A growing program in Michigan helps pregnant women and new moms by giving them cash over the first year of their children's lives. Launched in 2024, the program comes at a time when many voters worry over high child care costs and President Donald Trump's administration floats policy to reverse the declining birth rate. Backed by a mix of state, local and philanthropic money, Rx Kids gives mothers of newborns up to $7,500, with no income requirements and no rules for how the money is spent. Supporters believe the program could be a model for mitigating the high cost of having children in the U.S. Pregnant women receive $1,500 before delivery and $500 every month for the first six to 12 months of their babies' lives, depending on the program location.
Of the nearly 700 such devices captured in STAT’s Breakthrough Device Tracker, at least 10% use artificial intelligence. At least 16 have already been authorized by the FDA, and the unofficial count is still higher: STAT found examples of AI-based breakthrough devices that have been cleared by the FDA but have yet to be reported on the agency's public list of authorized breakthroughs, which was last updated in November.
As large language models like Claude 4 express uncertainty about whether they are conscious, researchers race to decode their inner workings, raising profound questions about machine awareness, ethics and the risks of uncontrolled AI evolution
Monarez, 50, was named acting director in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon. The Atlanta-based federal agency has been hit by widespread staff cuts, key resignations and heated controversy over long-standing CDC vaccine policies upended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.