AI Research
This Blue Valley teen uses AI to research cancer. Trump’s budget cuts could halt his work
By Jodi Fortino
Matthew Chen, a senior at Blue Valley North High School, knows the importance of cancer research firsthand — he’s been working with the University of Kansas Cancer Center for two years to look into the disease.
He also joined cancer survivors and medical experts with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network last month in Washington, D.C., to advocate for cancer research funding following the threat of federal budget cuts.
The Trump administration has proposed slashing billions of dollars from the National Institutes of Health budget for 2026 and cutting nearly 40% of the National Cancer Institute’s funding.
At a time when more than 2 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed this year and more than 600,000 people will die from the disease, Chen said lawmakers should be putting more into the agency’s budget and not cutting back.
“These numbers are extremely high, and now, more than ever, we need increased efforts on cancer research for better treatments in cancer prevention,” Chen said. “Because cancer can affect anybody.”
Chen, 16, got his start with the KU Cancer Center by volunteering at cancer screening events, eventually moving into cancer research.
At first, Chen spent time experimenting with artificial intelligence and coding in different programming languages. That would later become his focus to help predict patient outcomes, side effects and quality of life from cancer treatment.
After studying existing research, he began writing code, training computer models and spending hours collecting data on patient outcomes. One of his projects looked at where people live and how that impacts their ability to afford cancer treatment.
Another AI model he built tracks lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, in patients across their treatment.
“It helps doctors to sort of tailor the treatment that patients receive based on what side effects, or the severity of the reaction that they’re predicted to have,” Chen said.
In Washington, D.C.
Chen attended a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing last month during which lawmakers reviewed Trump’s budget request to shrink NIH funding. He said he was relieved to hear bipartisan support from legislators, including from U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, to whom he spoke after the event.
“It was great to feel like I personally am making a difference, and to let Senator Moran know that his constituents care a lot about this issue,” Chen said.
National cuts to cancer research could directly impact Kansans, Chen said. The KU Cancer Center is the state’s only NCI-designated cancer center, and it provides residents with access to clinical trials and education on cancer prevention and detection, he said.
Megan Word, the government relations director for ACS CAN in Kansas and Nebraska, said the cancer center also gives patients access to newer treatments and more specialists who treat specific cancers.
The American Cancer Society also has a Hope Lodge in Kansas City, where Word said people who travel more than 50 miles for treatment can stay free of charge.
Word said Kansans are lucky to have those resources, and the group is working to ensure the whole state can access them.
“We can’t do that without research funding. We can’t do that without early detection, prevention screening programs,” Word said. “To look and try to estimate how we’re going to keep that support system in place if we’re looking at a reduction as large as the president has proposed, it’s really unbelievable.”
Funding cuts
Additional federal cuts could impact other cancer prevention efforts across the state.
Trump proposed cutting $4 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which funds the Kansas registry that tracks how often residents are diagnosed with cancer, what type they have and their survival outcomes.
Word said some of the state’s cancer prevention programs have already been impacted by earlier cuts and layoffs.
The Department of Health and Human Services closed the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, which Word said shutters funding that went toward states’ work on tobacco cessation and prevention education.
Word said more cuts to the CDC under Trump’s budget proposal could threaten the state’s program to detect breast and cervical cancer.
“The current actions that have frozen funding, slash staffing and talk of future funding cuts for lifesaving cancer research is unacceptable. These cuts will have life-threatening consequences,” Word said. “That means fewer people will have access to clinical trials. Researchers on the cusp of new discoveries will be forced to shut off the lights.”
For now, Chen said he’s grateful for the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the biomedical field and to learn firsthand the importance of that work.
Chen said he’s been so inspired by his work that he hopes cancer research will be part of whatever job he pursues in the future.
“If there are these severe cuts, that might not be an option for future generations, and I want to ensure that it is because it’s such a great opportunity, and it helps not only high schoolers, but it helps cancer patients as well,” Chen said.
As KCUR’s education reporter, I cover how the economy, housing and school funding shape kids’ education. I’ll meet teachers, students and their families where they are — late night board meetings, in the classroom or in their homes — to break down the big decisions and cover what matters most to you. You can reach me at jodifortino@kcur.org.
AI Research
China’s Moonshot AI releases open-source model to reclaim market position
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI released a new open-source AI model on Friday, joining a wave of similar releases from local rivals, as it seeks to reclaim its position in the competitive domestic market.
The model, called Kimi K2, features enhanced coding capabilities and excels at general agent tasks and tool integration, allowing it to break down complex tasks more effectively, the company said in a statement.
Moonshot claimed the model outperforms mainstream open-source models in some areas, including DeepSeek’s V3, and rival capabilities of leading U.S. models such as those from Anthropic in certain functions such as coding.
The release follows a trend among Chinese companies toward open-sourcing AI models, contrasting with many U.S. tech giants like OpenAI and Google that keep their most advanced AI models proprietary. Some American firms, including Meta Platforms, have also released open-source models.
Open-sourcing allows developers to showcase their technological capabilities and expand developer communities as well as their global influence, a strategy likely to help China counter U.S. efforts to limit Beijing’s tech progress.
Other Chinese companies that have released open-source models include DeepSeek, Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu.
Founded in 2023 by Tsinghua University graduate Yang Zhilin, Moonshot is among China’s prominent AI startups and is backed by internet giants including Alibaba.
The company gained prominence in 2024 when users flocked to its platform for its long-text analysis capabilities and AI search functions.
However, its standing has declined this year following DeepSeek’s release of low-cost models, including the R1 model launched in January that disrupted the global AI industry.
Moonshot’s Kimi application ranked third in monthly active users last August but dropped to seventh place by June, according to aicpb.com, a Chinese website that tracks AI products.
(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh, Editing by Louise Heavens)
AI Research
AI is rewriting the rules of the insurance industry
Despite its traditionally risk-averse nature, the insurance industry is being fundamentally reshaped by AI.
AI has already become vital for the insurance industry, touching everything from complex risk calculations to the way insurers talk to their customers. However, while nearly eight out of ten companies are dipping their toes in the AI water, a similar number admit it hasn’t actually made them any more money.
Such figures reveal a simple truth: just buying the fancy new tech isn’t enough. The real winners will be the ones who figure out how to weave it into the very fabric of who they are and everything they do.
You can see the most dramatic changes right at the heart of the business: handling claims. That mountain of paperwork and endless phone calls, a process that could drag on for weeks, is finally being bulldozed by AI.
A deployment by New York-based insurer Lemonade back in 2021 resulted in settling over a third of its claims in just three seconds, with no human input. Or look at a major US travel insurer that handles 400,000 claims a year; it went from a completely manual system to one that was 57% automated, cutting down processing times from weeks to just minutes.
However, this isn’t just about moving faster; it’s about getting it right. AI can slash the kind of costly human errors that lead to claims leakage in the insurance industry by as much as 30%. The knock-on effect is a huge productivity leap, with adjusters able to handle 40-50% more cases. This frees up the real experts to stop being paper-pushers and start focusing on the tricky cases where a human touch and genuine empathy make all the difference.
It’s a similar story for the underwriters, the people who calculate the risks. AI is giving them superpowers, letting them analyse colossal amounts of data from all sorts of places – like telematics or credit scores – that a person could never sift through alone. It can even draft an initial risk report with incredible accuracy by looking at past data and policies in the blink of an eye.
In practice, this helps create pricing that is fairer and more accurately reflects a person’s unique situation. Zurich, for example, used a modern platform to build a risk management tool that made their assessments 90% more accurate.
Suddenly, underwriting isn’t about looking in the rearview mirror anymore—it’s a living, breathing process that can adapt on the fly to new, complex threats like cyberattacks or the effects of climate change.
But this isn’t just about back-office wizardry. When deployed in the insurance industry, AI is completely changing the conversation between insurers and the people they serve. It’s allowing a move away from simply reacting to problems to proactively helping customers.
AI chatbots can offer 24/7 support, getting smarter with every question they answer. This lets the human team focus on the more difficult conversations. The real game-changer, though, is making things personal.
By understanding a customer’s policy and behaviour, AI can gently nudge them with a renewal reminder or suggest a product that actually fits their life, like usage-based car insurance. It’s about showing customers you actually get them, which builds the kind of loyalty that’s been so hard to come by in an industry where over 30% of claimants feel dissatisfied, and 60% blame slow settlements.
This protective instinct also helps the whole system. AI is a brilliant fraud detective for the insurance industry and beyond, spotting weird patterns in data that a person would miss, and has the potential to cut fraud-related losses by up to 40%. It keeps everyone honest and protects the business and its customers.
What’s pouring fuel on this fire of change? A new breed of low-code platforms. They are the accelerators, letting insurers build and launch new apps and services much faster than before. In a world where customer tastes and rules can change overnight, that kind of speed is everything.
The best part of such tools is they democratise access and put the power to innovate into more hands. They allow regular business users – or ‘citizen developers’ – to build the tools they need without having to be coding geniuses. These platforms often come with strong security and controls, meaning this newfound speed doesn’t have to mean sacrificing safety or compliance, which is non-negotiable for an industry like insurance.
When you step back and look at the big picture, it’s clear that getting on board with AI isn’t just a tech project; it’s a make-or-break business strategy. Those who jumped in early are already pulling away from the pack, seeing things like a 14% jump in customer retention and a 48% rise in Net Promoter Scores.
The market for this technology is set to explode to over $14 billion dollars by 2034, and some believe AI could add $1.1 trillion in value to the industry every year. But the biggest roadblocks aren’t about the technology itself; they’re about people and old habits.
Data, especially in an industry like insurance, is often stuck in old systems which stops AI from seeing the whole picture. To get past this, you need more than clever software. You need leaders with a clear vision, a willingness to change the company culture, and a commitment to training their people.
The winners in this new era won’t be the ones tinkering with AI in a corner—they’ll be the ones who lead from the top, with a clear plan to make it a part of their DNA. This will require an understanding that it’s not just about doing old things better, but about finding entirely new ways to bring value and build trust.
Learn more about how AI is rewriting the rules of the insurance industry at the upcoming webinar “From Complexity to Clarity: AI + Agility Layer for Intelligent Insurance” on July 16, 2025, at 7PM BST / 2PM ET. Industry experts from Appian and EXL will share real-world examples and practical insights into how leading carriers are implementing these technologies. Registration is available at the webinar link.
Featured speakers include:
- Vikram Machado, Senior Vice President & Practice Leader – Life, Annuities, Retirements & Group Insurance, EXL
- Vikrant Saraswat, Vice President – AI Consulting, EXL
- Jack Moroney, Enterprise Account Executive – Insurance & Financial Services, Appian
- Andrew Kearns, Insurance Industry Lead, Appian
- Michaela Morari, Senior Solution Consultant – Insurance & Financial Services, Appian
See also: UK and Singapore form alliance to guide AI in finance
AI Research
Clarivate Unveils Enhanced 2025 G20 Research, Innovation Scorecard with Expanded Data, AI Insights
Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) is one of the cheap IT stocks hedge funds are buying. On July 9, Clarivate released its annual 2025 G20 Research and Innovation Scorecard. This scorecard was developed by experts at the Institute for Scientific Information/ISI at Clarivate and provides a data-driven overview of the research and innovation capabilities of G20 member nations.
The 2025 scorecard now incorporates data from the Emerging Sources Citation Index/ESCI, which is a part of the Web of Science Core Collection, to provide a more comprehensive view of global research. The scorecard has been refined to better emphasize collaboration and impact, reflecting South Africa’s Ubuntu philosophy, the G20 host for 2025.
A state-of-the-art computer lab filled with engineers working on new analytics technologies.
Dynamic visualizations are included to showcase each member’s research performance within their economic context and academic priorities. New additions also include OECD field-level breakdowns, insights into open access, and research aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting how G20 nations are collaborating to address global challenges.
Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) is an information services provider in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
While we acknowledge the potential of CLVT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
-
Funding & Business2 weeks ago
Kayak and Expedia race to build AI travel agents that turn social posts into itineraries
-
Jobs & Careers2 weeks ago
Mumbai-based Perplexity Alternative Has 60k+ Users Without Funding
-
Mergers & Acquisitions1 week ago
Donald Trump suggests US government review subsidies to Elon Musk’s companies
-
Funding & Business1 week ago
Rethinking Venture Capital’s Talent Pipeline
-
Jobs & Careers1 week ago
Why Agentic AI Isn’t Pure Hype (And What Skeptics Aren’t Seeing Yet)
-
Education4 days ago
9 AI Ethics Scenarios (and What School Librarians Would Do)
-
Education1 week ago
AERDF highlights the latest PreK-12 discoveries and inventions
-
Education4 days ago
Teachers see online learning as critical for workforce readiness in 2025
-
Education5 days ago
Nursery teachers to get £4,500 to work in disadvantaged areas
-
Education6 days ago
How ChatGPT is breaking higher education, explained