RFK Jr. – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing backlash from grassroots allies after aligning the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement with major tech corporations and artificial intelligence developers.
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stepped onto the stage at last week’s MAHA Summit. he offered a vision of a future liberated from what he termed “medical tyranny.” But instead of targeting the pharmaceutical or processed food industries that built his political base. the Health Secretary stood alongside Silicon Valley executives to champion a new frontier: artificial intelligence.
Kennedy told the invite-only audience that AI would empower Americans to “fact check their own medical advice” and escape the influence of public officials who demand blind trust in experts. It was an abrupt pivot for the leader of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. and it has left some of his most loyal. grassroots allies feeling betrayed.
Prominent figures within the movement are now questioning whether the leaders they once followed are cozying up to the very corporate interests they previously fought. The summit, organized by the MAHA Center Inc. and its affiliated groups. featured sponsors who paid up to $300. 000 for their spots—companies that include developers of psychedelic drugs. fitness wearables. and experimental cancer tests. many of whom have business pending before the U.S. government. For Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine researcher and longtime MAHA figure, the scene was clear: “It was classic pay-to-play.”.
Malone and other critics argue that big companies are now eclipsing the “MAHA moms” and local advocates who served as the movement’s engine. “There was no representation of people that have been at the core of MAHA and its creation. whether it be physicians or patients or patient advocates. ” Malone said. Tony Lyons. who manages the MAHA Center. the MAHA Institute. and the MAHA PAC. defended the strategy during a reception. stating. “The truth is we’re trying to build the biggest movement we can possibly build to actually get things done.”.
The internal friction mirrors a widening gap between Kennedy’s rhetoric and the reality of the technology he promotes. While HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard maintains that AI will help patients “interrogate” their data and provide doctors more time for care. medical experts argue the vision is fundamentally flawed. Dr. Zeke Emanuel. a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania. noted that AI models like those from OpenAI and Anthropic are trained on peer-reviewed literature and professional guidelines—the very establishment knowledge Kennedy claims to bypass. “He wants AI to mimic what he says,” Emanuel said. “But that’s not what good AI is going to do.”.
The alignment with Silicon Valley echoes broader shifts in the Trump administration, which has prioritized deregulation of the AI sector. Since returning to the White House. President Trump has revoked the Biden administration’s executive order on AI oversight. moved to allow the industry to police itself. and rebranded the technology as “super intelligence.” Administration officials. including Dr. Mehmet Oz. are now positioning AI as a panacea for everything from rising medical costs to rural hospital closures. even as some MAHA-affiliated groups like Moms Across America—founded by former Kennedy campaign staffer Zen Honeycutt—continue to organize against the heavy environmental and energy footprints of data centers.
As the administration pursues this “techno-utopian” path, legal and medical experts remain divided on the outcome. Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School expressed surprise that Kennedy. a vocal critic of “big food. ” has not fully considered how AI market incentives might diverge from the public good. Meanwhile, Dr. Robert Wachter of UCSF agrees that while democratization of health information is positive. the technology is likely to reinforce—not replace—mainstream medical expertise. With studies showing that AI still struggles in real-world. high-stress medical environments. the question remains whether the promise of patient empowerment will hold up once the technology leaves the lab and enters the clinic.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. RFK Jr. MAHA artificial intelligence HHS Dr. Mehmet Oz tech industry healthcare politics MAHA Summit