Federal agency launches $2 million AI challenge to support caregivers

By HPN staff

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced federal backing this week for the Caregiver Artificial Intelligence Prize Competition — a new national challenge aimed at easing the growing burden on the more than 70 million Americans serving as caregivers.

The $2 million competition, launched in partnership with the Administration for Community Living, will reward entrants who show how artificial intelligence can meaningfully improve daily life for both at-home caregivers and the workforce that supports them. The goal is to surface tools that can streamline care, reduce burnout and give families more time to focus on loved ones rather than paperwork and logistics.

“America’s caregivers carry our nation’s most vulnerable on their shoulders, and they do it with a strength and devotion that rarely gets the recognition it deserves,” Kennedy said. “With the Caregiver AI Challenge, we are advancing the goals of the Make America Healthy Again Strategy Report by mobilizing innovation to lighten caregivers’ load and ensure every family has the support they need to care for the people they love.”

Why it matters

Caregiving has surged nationwide, with studies showing nearly 1 in 4 U.S. adults now providing unpaid care — a 45 percent increase since 2015. 

The demands are taking a toll: more than 75 percent of self-identified caregivers report poor mental health. At the same time, a stretched health care workforce has pushed even more responsibility onto families caring for aging parents, children with medical needs and relatives with chronic conditions.

The initiative lands as AI rapidly expands across U.S. healthcare. According to the American Medical Association, 66 percent of physicians now use AI tools, and most say they “remain enthusiastic about the potential of AI in healthcare.” 

Federal agencies — including the FDA and HHS — have increasingly encouraged responsible adoption of the technology, framing it as a way to boost efficiency without undermining clinical judgment.

The big picture

The caregiving challenge extends that momentum to a sector long defined by labor shortages, rising costs and mounting pressure on families. HHS says entrants should “aim to educate, assist, and reduce the administrative strain so caregivers can focus on their own well-being and the people they care for.”

For many families, even small improvements in efficiency or coordination could ease daily burdens. Whether AI can deliver those gains — and do so in ways that protect privacy, autonomy and choice — will be central questions as the competition unfolds.