In an abrupt reversal, the Central Intelligence Agency said that it will process a Freedom of Information Act request for documents pertaining to the establishment of Open Source Works, the CIA’s in-house open source intelligence organization.
Intelligence historian Jeffrey Richelson had requested the charter of Open Source Works under the Freedom of Information Act, only to be told that the CIA could not confirm or deny the existence (or non-existence) of responsive records. See “Charter of Open Source Org is Classified, CIA Says,” Secrecy News, December 12.
But Dr. Richelson said that CIA Information and Privacy Coordinator Susan Viscuso called him yesterday to inform him that the request would be processed after all. The earlier response, she said, was “an administrative error.”
Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed revoking its 2009 “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gases pose a substantial threat to the public. The Federation of American Scientists stands in strong opposition.
Modernizing ClinicalTrials.gov will empower patients, oncologists, and others to better understand what trials are available, where they are available, and their up-to-date eligibility criteria, using standardized search categories to make them more easily discoverable.
The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 4420, the Cool Corridors Act of 2025, which would reauthorize the Healthy Streets program through 2030 and seeks to increase green and other shade infrastructure in high-heat areas.
The current lack of public trust in AI risks inhibiting innovation and adoption of AI systems, meaning new methods will not be discovered and new benefits won’t be felt. A failure to uphold high standards in the technology we deploy will also place our nation at a strategic disadvantage compared to our competitors.