Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told attendees at a Make America Healthy Again conference that artificial intelligence can provide patients with a second opinion that is much better informed than any doctor in the country and has the power to free us from medical tyranny. Speaking during a fireside chat with Vice President JD Vance, Kennedy said Open AI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, told him it would be malpractice for a doctor to make a diagnosis or prescription without at least checking A.I. Kennedy’s endorsement comes as the Trump administration faces mounting pressure to regulate the technology, and his own department has been criticized for moving too rapidly to fund A.I. projects in healthcare.

The MAHA Summit at the Waldorf Asteria in Washington featured sponsorship from companies including Walmart and Grail, which has a cancer screening blood test application pending before the FDA. The event drew multiple administration officials but also sparked backlash from longtime Kennedy supporters who called it a grift.

Kennedy and other officials were invited speakers rather than planners. The summit highlighted the growing divide within the MAHA movement between corporate-aligned factions and grassroots supporters.