Jared Seehafer

He laid out the federal overhaul needed to deploy them, which included appointing a person at the FDA to focus specifically on artificial intelligence.

Last week, the health department did just that, announcing that it had elevated Jared Seehafer, a former tech entrepreneur, to a newly created post of deputy commissioner for technology and artificial intelligence.

Mr. Seehafer, a Political appointee who has been at the agency about a year has been described by people who worked with him as wanting to pare back the agency's oversight of medical AI.

Mr. C. Hafer's appointment drew notice in Silicon Valley investment circles.

Kareem Mikhail has been named the new permanent director of CBER Biologics.

And Jared Seehafer has been named the first ever deputy commissioner for technology, and artificial intelligence.

We don't know exactly what that position entails, but we will find out because AI is going to be on all of our agendas in the coming months and years and decades.

It's good to have permanent leadership in CEDAR and CBER and to have the kind of stability that AI That implies.

Mm-hmm.

I know it's kind of outside of the, uh, the realm of, of this podcast, uh, which is, uh, prescription drugs, but, um, they, they also named, uh, uh, Jared Seehafer as the deputy commissioner for technology and AI, which, you know, has kind of a, you know, uh, tangential, um, you know, connection to the drug side.

Um, but, you know, because in part, because that's just a role that's going to touch everybody just about at the agency.

Um, You know, as more attention gets paid to AI, you know, whether it be through the, you know, the tools that FDA is implementing to help with reviews or, you know, the uses in drug development and so forth, or if, you know, like if you believe the statements of some people earlier this week that they are going to, you know, end the human race in decade, you know, it seems kind of like an important, really growing, important position, you know, as a, you know, for whatever reasons you probably could think of based on what I just said.

Finally, the agency created a new position, Deputy Commissioner for Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

Jared Seehafer, who spent most of his career in the private sector, will lead technology, software, and AI.

Sydney Lupkin, NPR News.

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