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Tag: AI

  • PMI Releases White Paper on Human Cognition in the AI Age

    PMI Releases White Paper on Human Cognition in the AI Age

    Philip Morris International Inc. released a white paper titled “Human Cognition: The Next Frontier?”, inviting leaders from business, policy, and academia to engage in a global conversation on the role of human cognition as AI transforms work, society, and the economy. The paper argues that skills like critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability will become the “superskills” of the future, essential for organizations navigating an era of human/machine collaboration. As AI increasingly automates routine and cognitive tasks, PMI emphasized that nurturing human cognition is critical for resilience, innovation, and decision-making.

    “Technology helps us move faster—but real progress depends on people,” said Moira Gilchrist, PMI’s Chief Global Communications Officer. “Change isn’t just about scientific and technological advances; it’s about vision, ambition, and how people apply innovations.” The paper identifies key cognitive risks posed by AI, including cognitive atrophy from over-reliance on AI for ideation and analysis, attention erosion due to digital distractions, an emerging cognitive divide, and trust challenges from synthetic media and deepfakes. PMI highlights the importance of protecting and strengthening human cognition to ensure society benefits from AI rather than being overwhelmed by it.

    PMI said the white paper underscores its commitment to continuous learning, workforce development, and dialogue on the societal implications of AI, as it aims to become predominantly smoke-free by 2030.

  • MagicCube Investing in Phone Biometrics, AI Commerce

    MagicCube Investing in Phone Biometrics, AI Commerce

    MagicCube announced that it raised $10 million in new committed funding to expand its software-based security technology beyond tap-to-phone payments into biometrics, identity verification, and AI-driven device security, with strategic participation from Verifone alongside existing investors. The California-based company develops Software Defined Trust, which uses a software Trusted Execution Environment to deliver hardware-grade security on standard mobile and IoT devices without specialized chips, supporting secure payments and sensitive data processing. The funding will be used to accelerate R&D, strengthen AI security capabilities, and deepen integrations across global payment and identity ecosystems, as MagicCube positions its platform for broader digital commerce and compliance-driven use cases.

  • Eagle Eye’s Solution Helps Retailers Maximize Conversion, Engagement

    Eagle Eye’s Solution Helps Retailers Maximize Conversion, Engagement

    Eagle Eye launched Personalized Promotions, a new AI-powered solution designed to help retailers move from broad, manual discounting to real-time, one-to-one promotional execution at scale. The SaaS company said the platform uses AI and machine learning to automatically create and deliver individualized offers aligned with shopper behavior, retailer objectives, and budget controls, addressing a long-standing challenge in retail personalization. Eagle Eye said the solution can boost promotional efficiency, deepen customer engagement, and improve measurement for supplier brands, adding to its AI Personalization Science suite as retailers increasingly seek scalable, data-driven ways to personalize offers across omnichannel environments.

  • FDA Deploys Agentic AI to Assist Regulatory Reviews

    FDA Deploys Agentic AI to Assist Regulatory Reviews

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the deployment of agentic AI capabilities to all agency employees, a move expected to streamline complex, multi-step regulatory tasks — including pre-market reviews, post-market surveillance, inspections, and compliance activities that would be of interest to those in the tobacco and nicotine industries.

    The new systems allow staff to build multi-model AI workflows capable of planning, reasoning, and executing tasks under human oversight. The tools are optional and operate within a secure GovCloud environment, with no training on industry-submitted data.

    In an email to StatNews, an FDA spokesperson called the tool “exploratory” and said that the AI agents do not make regulatory decisions. “All outputs from AI are reviewed and validated” by FDA staff “before being incorporated into any official regulatory action, ensuring that the AI remains a support tool rather than a decision maker,” he wrote.

    The deployment follows the success of Elsa, an internal LLM tool launched in May and now used by more than 70% of FDA personnel. The agency is also launching a two-month Agentic AI Challenge, with selected projects to be showcased in January 2026.

    FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the upgrades mark a major step in modernizing regulatory operations, while Chief AI Officer Jeremy Walsh highlighted the potential to accelerate and validate safety assessments across all FDA-regulated sectors — including tobacco.

  • Makary Updates First 100 Days Leading FDA

    Makary Updates First 100 Days Leading FDA

    FDA Commissioner Marty Makary issued a statement today (July 10) to update the work that has been accomplished in his first 100 days leading the organization and create a roadmap for future objectives.

    “The FDA regulates products that account for 20% of all U.S. consumer spending, and our work impacts the lives of every American,” he said. “Over the past 100 days, we’ve launched dozens of key initiatives across the full range of the FDA’s purview to help make food healthier for children and families, accelerate meaningful cures and treatments, and modernize the agency with transparency, gold-standard science, and common sense.”

    The statement then listed dozens of bullet points highlighting the work being done, the majority of which focused on pharmaceuticals and food manufacturing. Under the heading “Administration – Gold-Standard Science & Common Sense,” Makary said the FDA was protecting American consumers by combating illegal vapes. “In collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, seized nearly $34 million worth of illegal, youth-appealing e-cigarette products originating in China,” it said.

    Makary also pointed to the FDA’s implementation of AI to assist all departments in reviewing products, of particular interest to the nicotine industry that has dealt with years of little to no movement regarding vapes and alternative products.

    “Completed a successful first AI-assisted scientific review pilot, demonstrating that internal AI tools can greatly reduce the time reviewers spend on mundane tasks or non-productive busywork,” the statement said. “Launched Elsa, a generative AI tool designed to help all FDA employees – from scientific reviewers to investigators – work more efficiently. Elsa is just an initial step in the FDA’s larger plans to integrate AI into agency processes.”

    “I’m excited by what the talented FDA team have been able to achieve in 100 days by embracing gold-standard science, radical transparency, and common sense,” Makary said. “This is just the beginning. We’ll continue to introduce initiatives to modernize the agency.”

    Read the entire press release here.

  • FDA Completes AI-Assisted Review Pilot, Ready for Agency-Wide Rollout

    FDA Completes AI-Assisted Review Pilot, Ready for Agency-Wide Rollout

    FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin A. Makary today (May 8) announced an aggressive timeline to scale the use of artificial intelligence (AI) internally across all FDA centers by June 30, 2025, following the completion of a new generative AI pilot for scientific reviewers.

    “I was blown away by the success of our first AI-assisted scientific review pilot,” Makary said. “We need to value our scientists’ time and reduce the amount of non-productive busywork that has historically consumed much of the review process. The agency-wide deployment of these capabilities holds tremendous promise in accelerating the review time for new therapies.”

    The generative AI tools allow FDA scientists and subject-matter experts to spend less time on tedious, repetitive tasks that often slow down the review process.

    “This is a game-changer technology that has enabled me to perform scientific review tasks in minutes that used to take three days,” said Jinzhong (Jin) Liu, Deputy Director, Office of Drug Evaluation Sciences, Office of New Drugs in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

    To reflect the urgency of this effort, Makary directed all FDA centers to begin deployment immediately, with the goal of full integration by the end of June. Work will continue to expand use cases, improve functionality, and adapt to the evolving needs of each center after June 30. By that date, all centers will be operating on a common, secure generative AI system integrated with FDA’s internal data platforms.

    “There have been years of talk about AI capabilities in frameworks, conferences, and panels, but we cannot afford to keep talking,” Makary said. “It is time to take action. The opportunity to reduce tasks that once took days to just minutes is too important to delay.”

    Looking ahead, the FDA plans to expand generative AI capabilities across all centers using a secure, unified platform. Future enhancements will focus on improving usability, expanding document integration, and tailoring outputs to center-specific needs, while maintaining strict information security and compliance with FDA policy.

    The agency-wide rollout is being coordinated by Jeremy Walsh, the FDA’s newly appointed Chief AI Officer and Sridhar Mantha. Walsh previously led enterprise-scale technology deployments across federal health and intelligence agencies and Mantha recently led the Office of Business Informatics in CDER.

    The agency will continue to assess performance, gather user feedback, and refine features to support the evolving needs of FDA staff and advance its public health mission. Additional details and updates on the initiative will be shared publicly in June.