Alphabet's DeepMind aims to quiet critics with new deal to access UK medical data

DeepMind, the British AI firm owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, has signed a new five-year deal to use data collected by the UK's National Health Service. The agreement with the NHS Royal Free Hospital Trust in London replaces a previous deal that attracted controversy over its lack of official oversight. Under the terms of the new deal, DeepMind will handle personally identifiable medical records for some 1.6 million patients, including medical history dating back five years. The agreement also includes stricter data regulation, including "technical audits" of DeepMind's systems. Using data from the Royal Free, DeepMind has built an app named Streams that alerts doctors when patients are in danger of developing acute kidney injury (AKI) -- a common but often overlooked condition.