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CHAI was started by a group of clinicians with a simple and urgent mission: bring the health ecosystem together to ensure AI is trusted, safe, and effective. In the beginning, we believed that no single organization could solve this alone – and this belief holds true today. Progress requires clinical experience, open collaboration, and a shared commitment to patients.

We’re excited to welcome some of our newer members, including the University of Texas System, University of Virginia Health, Emory Healthcare, NYU Langone Health, the Iowa Primary Care Association and more.

Our membership is open, expanding rapidly and working side-by-side to solve the practical challenges of developing, deploying, and monitoring AI in real-world healthcare settings.

The Work Behind the Mission

CHAI has a small core team of fewer than ten people. The real work happens across our growing community, including over 200 health system members. Today, roughly 1,000 members are actively engaged in CHAI workgroups, rolling up their sleeves on a weekly basis to build practical frameworks, tools, and best practices that help clinicians and provider organizations improve quality, safety, and productivity through AI. This collaborative, open approach is intended to accelerate adoption, improve patient outcomes, and help innovators bring better solutions to market more efficiently.

As we continue translating this work into practical tools, infrastructure, and governance resources, we’re pleased to share one more step in operationalizing AI governance for health systems: CHAI’s Risk Categorization Tool. Developed by CHAI’s Risk Work Group, this tool helps health systems assess low, medium, and high-risk AI use cases across Life & Patient Safety and Technology & Data domains to support early governance and mitigation planning.

What’s Ahead in 2026

• AI Governance Playbooks – A public release, with tools and templates, is planned for summer 2026.

• Health AI Registry – A public registry that supports model cards and a common intake pathway for vendors and health systems. Beta launched with founding partners in late 2025, expanding to more members in Q1.

• Best Practices & Testing and Evaluation Frameworks – Building on the most recently published Best Practice Guides and Testing and Evaluation frameworks, CHAI will publish four additional priority use cases this summer: Clinical Trials, Ambient AI, Agentic AI, and Mental Health Chatbots.

• Convenings and Community – Monthly member webinars and major 2026 convenings, including the CHAI Leadership Summit at Health Evolution on April 20-21 in Dana Point, CA.

An Inflection Point in Health AI

Last month, CHAI released new national research on public trust in health AI, funded by the California Health Care Foundation and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago via AmeriSpeak. The study was informed by CHAI’s Policy Workgroup and more than 150 clinicians, patients, and technology leaders.

The findings highlight a widening trust gap:

• 75% of respondents report using AI, yet only 13% feel very comfortable with it

• 51% say AI makes them trust healthcare less; only 12% say it increases trust

• 93% report at least one concern about AI in healthcare

• More than 80% say trust would increase with clear accountability measures

For CHAI members across policy, healthcare delivery, technology, and research, these results reinforce the urgency of addressing accountability, transparency, and governance– not just technical performance.

At VIVE

This week, we look forward to convening with members and partners from across the healthcare and technology ecosystem. These meetings are where clinicians, developers, policymakers, and operators come together to solve real problems and shift ideas into action.

CHAI has always been – and will always be – a community. Our progress reflects the dedication of thousands of clinicians, health system leaders, researchers, developers, patient advocates, and policymakers who are working together to ensure AI improves healthcare safely and responsibly.

If you are here at ViVE, we hope to see you. If you are not yet part of CHAI, we invite you to join. Together, we can ensure AI delivers on its promise for patients everywhere.