Welcome back to, TIME's new twice-weekly newsletter about AI. If you're reading this in your browser, why not subscribe to have the next one delivered straight to your inbox? We hear a lot about how AI is accelerating drug discovery. But the number of drugs approved by the FDA has remained constant through the AI revolution, at around 50 per year. "The biggest problem in bringing new medicine to patients hasn't been drug discovery for a long time," says Ben Liu, the founder and CEO of Formation Bio, an AI company working in the biotech space.

Experts worry Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Health Department will use an internal AI tool to analyze vaccine injury claims in a way that furthers his anti-vaccine agenda. The US Department of Health and Human Services is developing a generative artificial intelligence tool to find patterns across data reported to a national vaccine monitoring database and to generate hypotheses on the negative effects of vaccines, according to an inventory released last week of all use cases the agency had for AI in 2025. The tool has not yet been deployed, according to the HHS document, and an AI inventory report from the previous year shows that it has been in development since late 2023. But experts worry that the predictions it generates could be used by Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to further his anti-vaccine agenda. A long-standing vaccine critic, Kenedy has upended the childhood vaccination schedule in his year in office, removing several shots from a list of recommended immunizations for all children, including those for Covid-19, influenza, hepatitis A and B, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Signos is the first FDA-cleared, AI-enabled system that uses CGMs to nudge you towards healthier behaviors. According to the American Diabetes Association, around 7 million people in the United States are undiagnosed, with 1 in 3 Americans at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. If you do not go on medication, you can manage the condition--a chronic metabolic disease that's characterized by elevated blood sugar levels--by exercising and watching what you eat (very, very closely). In the past few years, the tools that diabetics use to help manage their condition have become more widely available. Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) like the Abbott Lingo and the Dexcom Stelo used to be available only by prescription.

Plus: TikTok won't be heading to court this week The first human test of a rejuvenation method will begin "shortly" Life Biosciences, a small Boston startup founded by Harvard professor and life-extension evangelist David Sinclair, has won FDA approval to proceed with the first targeted attempt at age reversal in human volunteers. The company plans to try to treat eye disease with a radical rejuvenation concept called "reprogramming" that has recently attracted hundreds of millions in investment for Silicon Valley firms like Altos Labs, New Limit, and Retro Biosciences, backed by many of the biggest names in tech. Today, an estimated 2.2 billion people still have either limited or no access to the internet, largely because they live in remote places. But that number could drop this year, thanks to tests of stratospheric airships, uncrewed aircraft, and other high-altitude platforms for internet delivery. Although Google shuttered its high-profile internet balloon project Loon in 2021, work on other kinds of high-altitude platform stations has continued behind the scenes. Now, several companies claim they have solved Loon's problems--and are getting ready to prove the tech's internet beaming potential starting this year.

Flow Neuroscience receives FDA approval for FL-100 depression device showing 58% symptom improvement. The home-use brain stimulation headset will be available in 2026.

Aurora Therapeutics' first target is the rare inherited disease phenylketonuria, also known as PKU. Here at we've been writing about the gene-editing technology CRISPR since 2013, calling it the biggest biotech breakthrough of the century. Yet so far, there's been only one gene-editing drug approved. It's been used commercially on only about 40 patients, all with sickle-cell disease. It's becoming clear that the impact of CRISPR isn't as big as we all hoped. In fact, there's a pall of discouragement over the entire field--with some journalists saying the gene-editing revolution has " lost its mojo ."

Brewing byproduct may be a key sustainable secret ingredient. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Brewing beer relies on a very simple living thing-brewer's yeast. The microorganisms thrive on mashed grains, converting sugars into both alcohol and carbon dioxide along the way. But there's not much use for yeast after the pints are poured .

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. For years, needing reading glasses to correct farsightedness seemed like an inevitable part of aging. This year, the visual accessories might officially be a thing of the past. The newly approved drops are powerful enough to improve vision by three or more lines on an eye chart within only 30 minutes. That wide-ranging impact is why chose the drops as the 2025 Health category winner.

Novo Nordisk's semaglutide will soon be available in a daily pill Americans can take for weight loss. The US Food and Drug Administration today approved a pill version of the blockbuster anti-obesity drug Wegovy. Made by Novo Nordisk, the pill is taken once a day. The company's original version of Wegovy is a weekly injection. Both drugs contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide.

RFK Jr.'s Health Department Is Pondering a National Men's Health Initiative At an FDA discussion of testosterone replacement therapy, a top official called for special health centers to address a "men's health crisis." Others called to ease men's access to hormones. The US Department of Health and Human Services is considering launching a federal men's health initiative, a source at the agency tells WIRED. Brian Christine, who will be sworn in on December 12 as assistant secretary for health at HHS and head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, called for such an effort Wednesday during a Food and Drug Administration panel on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for men. A spokesperson for HHS declined to comment.