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OpenAI on Tuesday announced a new ChatGPT system for U.S. government workers that it calls more secure than its Enterprise offering. ChatGPT Gov will allow for government agencies to feed nonpublic, sensitive data into the platform while operating in their own hosting environments. OpenAI said that self-hosting enables agencies to manage their own security, privacy, and compliance requirements. It’s unclear when ChatGPT Gov will be available for government customers. Still, some government workers are already using ChatGPT today. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 90,000 users across more than 3,500 federal, state, and local government agencies have sent upwards of 18 million messages on ChatGPT to support their work, the company said. “By making our products available to the U.S. government, we aim to ensure AI serves the national interest and the public good, aligned with democratic values, while empowering policymakers to responsibly integrate these capabilities to deliver better services to the American people,” OpenAI wrote in a press release. The announcement of ChatGPT Gov comes a week into President Donald Trump’s new administration. OpenAI leader Sam Altman attended Trump’s inauguration last week in Washington, D.C., alongside several other Big Tech leaders. The two reportedly have spoken about the importance of developing artificial intelligence in the U.S. Altman, who donated to Trump’s inauguration fund, has also expressed admiration for the president. “I’m not going to agree with him on everything, but I think he will be incredible for the country in many ways!” he wrote on X last Wednesday.
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On a frigid, gray morning this month, a half-dozen community advocates stood on a street corner in the South Bronx, struggling to be heard over the roar of heavy trucks. New York had recently begun charging vehicles to enter the citys central business district, becoming the first in the nation to try to reduce traffic with a congestion pricing program. Yet while the tolls are expected to speed commutes and help improve air quality in the region, they are also projected to worsen traffic and pollution in a handful of neighborhoods, including the South Bronx, one of the citys poorest. We are inundated with traffic, said Mychal Johnson, cofounder of South Bronx Unite, a community advocacy group that was part of the environmental justice advisory group for the congestion pricing program. Mychal Johnson (center), cofounder of South Bronx Unite, speaks about one of the air monitors his group has installed around the New York neighborhood to measure pollution. [Photo: Nicholas Kusnetz/Inside Climate News] One block south of where Johnson stood is a waste transfer facility, the destination of many of the trucks driving behind him. One block north is the six-lane Major Deegan Expressway, while Bruckner Boulevard, a heavily traveled route into Manhattan, lay in between. Nestled around these are a public housing project, several new residential high-rises, and a charter high school built to serve 1,300 students. On Jan. 5, New Yorks Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) began charging vehicles that drive into Manhattan below 60th Street. The program should increase train and bus ridership and generate billions of dollars in revenue for public transportation. But it is also expected to divert some traffic around Manhattan, leading to more vehicles rumbling through parts of the Bronx, Staten Island, and Northern New Jersey. In the neighborhood where Johnson spoke, 95% of residents are Hispanic or Black, according to data compiled by New York Universitys Furman Center. One-third live in poverty. Across the Bronx, one in five people have asthmathe highest rate in the citys five boroughswhile the South Bronx has the highest rates of respiratory hospitalizations related to air pollution, according to city data. South Bronx Unite held the press conference to highlight the disproportionate impacts of congestion pricing on the neighborhood. A nurse from a hospital spoke about treating asthma patients. A parent detailed the psychological, educational, and financial impacts when kids miss school due to chronic asthma attacks, forcing parents to miss work too. A community gardener displayed his portable nebulizer, which he uses to treat symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Daniel Chervoni grew up in the South Bronx and now runs a community garden in the area. He carries a portable nebulizer to treat symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary fibrosis. [Photo: Nicholas Kusnetz/Inside Climate News] An associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University spoke about a partnership with South Bronx Unite to monitor air quality with a network of sensors. Early data showed stark comparisons with a wealthy neighborhood in Northern Bronx. Johnson lamented that his organization should feel the need to embark on such a monitoring project, and he stressed that the group was not opposed to the plan to charge drivers for entering the city center. We are for reducing congestion, Johnson said as more trucks drove behind him. We just cant be the shoulder-bearers of when they reduce it at other locations. Our community is suffering. Broadly speaking, many environmental advocates and planners praised New Yorks congestion charging as a major victory. City and state leaders had been trying to implement a program for nearly two decades, and finally reached agreement to do so in 2019. Last year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul suspended the plan shortly before it was to begin, only to revive a new version with lower rates after the election. President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, has opposed congestion pricing and pledged to block it. New York has some of the nations worst traffic. And while air quality has improved over the past decades, levels of some pollutants remain high, especially in Midtown and Lower Manhattan. The MTAs environmental assessment said congestion pricing would increase worker productivity, lower the cost of making deliveries, and help emergency vehicles reach their destinations more quickly, by speeding traffic. The assessment projected that levels of some pollutants like fine particulate matter should drop by more than 10% in the area covered by tolls, and incrementally region-wide. Yet the environmental assessment acknowledged that not all areas would benefit, and that some of these burdens would fall on environmental justice communities, poor neighborhoods that already have bad air quality or pollution-related health problems. To counter these disproportionate impacts, the MTA is allocating $100 million for mitigation in affected neighborhoods to install air purifiers in schools, plant roadside vegetation, and take other measures. In the Bronx, which will receive 72% of the funds, the agency will also create an asthma treatment center and replace diesel refrigeration units with cleaner alternatives at a large food distribution center that is a source of heavy truck traffic. The MTA declined to make anyone available for an interview for this article. Instead, a spokesperson pointed to comments by the authoritys chief executive, Janno Lieber, at a recent press conference and during a local radio show, when he touted the spending in the Bronx. Were making the big investments that more than offset any hypothetical impact from truck traffic in the Bronx thats a result of congestion pricing, Lieber said on WNYCs Brian Lehrer Show. Hochuls office referred questions to the MTA. Johnson said his group was not satisfied with the MTAs response, and called the asthma center funding insulting. If they know that problem is already preexisting, mitigation after the fact is not helpful, Johnson said. In an interview after the press conference, Johnson said he had spoken with the MTA as the agency was developing congestion pricing. We told them we dont want one more truck, Johnson said. I said, Is it fair to ask our children to have to ingest the fumes from another truck when they already are impacted so heavily? He added, They had no response. How do you respond? The group dispersed quickly after the press conference, seeking warmer and quieter spots. The trucks kept roaring by. Nicholas Kusnetz, Inside Climate News This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here.
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Nearly three weeks after the Eaton Fire destroyed their Altadena home, Pete and Angela Mitchell need answers on what to do next. They registered for FEMA assistance, but got a letter of non-approval. After a 90-minute call to the agency’s helpline and a long day at a FEMA recovery center, they learned they needed more insurance documents. But their insurance agent’s office also burned down. Now they have the documents, but can’t figure out how to upload them to FEMA. Front of mind for them is where they, their four dogs and cat will live for the several years it will take to rebuild, and how they will pay both the existing mortgage for their destroyed home and rent on a temporary place each month. Its a marathon, not a sprint, said Angela, but they dont know who can guide them. And they worry about what happens when FEMA and the media move on to the next crisis. Were going to be here, struggling. Tens of thousands of people impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires have similar worries. To help, nonprofits across the region are readying what they say will be a record number of disaster case managers and advocates to support survivors through their recovery, connecting them with resources, and fighting on their behalf. What people really need when at the lowest point in their lives is someone on their team that is helping support and guide them through their recovery, said Claire Balsley, director of disaster assistance programs at the New Orleans-based disaster recovery organization SBP. Given the scale of destruction, the nonprofits expect a dire need for these services. The term unprecedented couldn’t be more accurate, said Jenni Campbell, executive director of the Los Angeles Region Community Recovery Organization, or LARCRO. The number of agencies and organizations that have come forward to participate in disaster case management is also unprecedented. Disaster case managers (DCMs) are trained and vetted helpers who support households through a longterm recovery plan, but many nonprofits also offer other types of advocates and caseworkers who can connect survivors to resources and help them navigate applications. We want everybody as much as possible to take part in their own recovery, but we want to steer them in the right direction,” said Shaun McCarty, program manager for disaster case management at Catholic Charities of Los Angeles. They dont want to start making mistakes like clearing their property or spending money that is going to come in later on. The need for support is clear. As of Jan. 27, nearly 112,000 FEMA applications had been submitted, but only about 19,000 of them were approved for Individual Assistance, according to the agency. FEMA applicants who get a letter saying they are not approved often just need to submit more documents or correct typos. Balsley said it’s crucial these families appeal decisions. A denial does not mean its the end of the road, its the start of a conversation, she said. But that process can be grueling. They feel like theres not a path forward, and if they dont have an advocate, I think a lot of people do give up, said Melissa Baurer, director of integrated health and outreach at Santiam Hospital and Clinics in Stayton, Oregon. Her hospital hired case managers to support people impacted by the 2020 Santiam Canyon Fire in northwest Oregon. It took eight appeals to get one clients Small Business Administration loan approved. A case manager called FEMA 14 times over four months to get a households payout. We gave that case manager boxing gloves,” said Baurer. “She just went to battle on every FEMA appeal and never took no for an answer. Without someone to trust, people struggling after disasters might not seek out help at all, deterred by misinformation or past traumas suffered by their communities, experts say. Case management isnt just about navigating paperwork, its about human connection, said Skye Kolealani Razon-Olds, director of resiliency at the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, or CNHA. After the 2023 Maui wildfires, CNHA hired community care navigators who were Lahaina survivors themselves. Their lived experiences allowed them to connect with community members on a deeply personal level, building trust and fostering a sense of shared understanding, said Razon-Olds. In Los Angeles, the first step is finding all the people impactednot just homeowners, but renters, small business owners, and people who lost workand telling them these services are available. Many have never heard of disaster case management, including the Mitchells. Standing outside a FEMA recovery center, they said the idea interested them, especially after calling FEMA only to be passed from person to person. You don’t have that centralized focus or connection,” said Angela Mitchell. To get case management help, households can call their local 211 helpline, or fill out intake forms online with LARCRO, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, and other local organizations. Some nonprofits are connecting with survivors at FEMA disaster recovery centers and resource fairs. Campbell said LARCO and Catholic Charities are collaborating to centralize survivor data to assess needs and triage cases so DCMs can start reaching out. We are all working really hard to make sure that we dont duplicate efforts and that we ensure that we gather every last individual that could need help, she said. Making sure no one is missed requires outreach at schools, churches, and other community focal points, too, said Siugen Constanza, director of community affairs and outreach at the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu. Her team of family therapists and social workers in training are calling families from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. We do whatever it takes, if we have to meet them at Starbucks, a shelter, on the street, whatever it takes to provide that support, said Constanza, adding that Spanish-speaking caseworkers are badly needed. While FEMA provides funding for disaster case management, most groups will rely on philanthropic and local support to hire and train case managers. Balsley of SBP said she’s seen those donations pay dividends. For every dollar that a philanthropic donor puts into our program, we can help survivors access three dollars, she said. Robust support lets the programs last as long as they need to. Campbell said DCMs are still helping Malibu households recovering from the 2018 Woolsey fire. We dont go away, she said. We stay until the long term recovery process is done. Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit < href="https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy">https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Associated Press
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