‘AI for Kids’ bill introduced to Congress to accelerate AI use in pediatric cancer research - WSMV

What This Story Is About

- A federal bill has been introduced to focus on AI to help diagnose, treat and research pediatric cancer.

Why It Matters

- Cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease for children and teens, but AI, run with data centers, has also been linked to a range of health and environmental issues in communities.

What Happens Next

- The bill has only been introduced and will still need to undergo committee review before being voted on by the House before it moves forward in Congress.

For Context

- The Trump administration has put a hefty focus on artificial technology advancement in the U.S., describing a need to win a “race,” despite the U.S. already leading the world in the number of data centers.

Catch Up

- WSMV4 has been tracking data center news across Middle Tennessee. You can get the latest updates here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A newly-introduced federal bill aims to use artificial intelligence to aid in pediatric cancer research.

The Accelerating Innovation (AI) for Kids Act was introduced by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), along with Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA). In a press release, McCaul says the measure “will accelerate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve and transform pediatric cancer research, treatment options, and data storage.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cancer in children is rare compared to cancer in adults, but it remains the leading cause of death from disease for children and teens. The agency says that about 15,000 kids and teens younger than 20 are diagnosed with cancer every year in the U.S. and that death rates have dropped nearly 70% for those under 14 in recent decades.

The bill calls on Pres. Trump to work with the Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appoint an individual or entity to coordinate federal efforts to use AI to diagnose, treat, cure and prevent pediatric cancer. That coordinator would be known as the “Coordinator of AI Innovation” and will be part of the Domestic Policy Council.

McCaul, Bera and Kelly are seeking $100 million for each fiscal year the bill is approved, which they wrote to last through 2031.

“By empowering AI to continuously drive research forward, we move one step closer to beating this heartbreaking disease once and for all,” McCaul said.

Bera said the bill would use AI and data tools to help deliver more personalized treatment for patients.

“Pediatric cancer remains one of the most heartbreaking diagnoses any family can face,” Bera said, “and we have a responsibility to use every tool available to improve outcomes for children.”

Trump administration’s push for AI comes amid skepticism

AI is a major focus for the Trump administration, which developed a website just for the controversial technology. On it, the government says the U.S. “is in a race to achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence.”

“Whoever has the largest AI ecosystem will set the global standards and reap broad economic and security benefits,” it says. “Under President Trump, our Nation will win, ushering in a new Golden Age of innovation, human flourishing, and technological achievement for the American people.”

Along with boosting innovation, the president’s plans call for building AI infrastructure, which requires large data centers.

While data centers have become a core component of streaming and digital communication, the larger facilities have come under fire in recent years due to their extensive consumption of resources and documented issues of noise, air and environmental pollution.

The U.S. already leads the world in the overall number of data centers and researchers have found that more than 1,500 facilities are planned nationwide, more than half in rural areas. The South is expected to account for nearly half of all new planned constructions.

Numerous cities and towns have started to push back against data centers, including many in Middle Tennessee, with officials approving moratoriums and size and zoning rules that limit where facilities can go and how big they can be.

You can get the latest Middle Tennessee data center news at wsmv.com/news/investigate/data-centers.

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