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A $5.7 billion AI startup wants to help cut government benefit fraud. Experts aren’t so sure.

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An AI startup in SF focused on identity verification has set a lofty goal: securing government contracts.

Daniel Yanisse, the CEO of Checkr, told Business Insider that the company wants to help the government reduce “fraud and waste” by not only screening new employees but also verifying people’s eligibility for benefits such as Medicare and Social Security.

Though Yanisse said the company isn’t ready to make any product announcement yet, he said a frictionless government assistance system may be just years away.

AI and safety experts, however, told Business Insider that there are legal and technical hurdles for any company to undertake the task of automating benefit and welfare systems with AI.

Checkr primarily uses AI to run background checks and surface information such as criminal records and motor vehicle reports. The company has major contracts with Uber and Lyft to screen new drivers, and is valued at more than $5.7 billion after raising $120 million in funding in 2022. In 2025, Checkr reported over $800 million in revenue and surpassed 120,000 customers.

When asked what Checkr wants to do for the government, Yanisse said that for Medicare and other programs, “there’s a lot of fraud happening and just bad actors getting the government dollars instead of the right people who need help,” adding that it’s very hard for the government to actually verify people’s employment status and income.

The Medicare Fee-for-Service program estimated that there were $28.83 billion in “improper payment” in 2025 at a rate of 6.55%, though not all such cases are the result of intentional fraud. Payments made to individuals who did not submit sufficient documentation and have unverified income levels are also considered improper by Medicaid.

“With AI, unfortunately, there’s going to be even more fraud, identity theft, and scams,” said Yanisse. “It’s a lot of friction, it’s a lot of repetition, and now there are also deepfakes.”

Checkr’s spokesperson told Business Insider that the company’s potential involvement in government is “still conceptual at this point.”

The company also pointed toward a study by Middesk, a business identity verification platform, that out of $1.09 trillion in Medicaid payments that went to around 1.6 million providers between 2018 and 2024, $563 million in payouts went to providers that are blacklisted from federal healthcare programs for criminal activity or misconduct.

Automating identity verification can be challenging

Stuart Russell, professor of computer science at UC Berkeley and an AI pioneer, told Business Insider that he is “not optimistic” that the plan to use AI to determine benefits eligibility will work as advertised.

“An AI system of this kind, some version of an LLM, is incapable of producing veridical explanations of its decisions, making it impossible to challenge false decisions,” Russell said.

Russell also cited the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union, which bars decisions with significant legal effects on individuals from being made entirely by automated systems.

Baobao Zhang, the Maxwell Dean associate professor of the politics of AI at Syracuse University, told Business Insider that though she cannot assess exactly how good Checkr’s verification system is right now, past government attempts to mix people’s benefits with an automated system are cautionary tales.

“If the federal government or other state governments are trying to contract with a vendor to automate welfare fraud detection, they need to have a serious evaluation in the real world before they deploy it, because the stakes are high, as history has proven,” said Zhang.

In Indiana, an attempt to streamline and automate its welfare eligibility system by outsourcing a contract to IBM ended in a legal battle in which the state sued the company for $1.3 billion for the scrapped project in 2010. Based on court records, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said that processing errors from IBM led to faulty benefits denials that brought harm to the needy.

In Australia, an automated government plan called Robodebt, designed to detect fraud, told welfare recipients to repay benefits and sent letters claiming they owed thousands of dollars in debt, based on an incorrect algorithm. A royal commission, which is Australia’s highest form of public inquiry, found that at least three people died by suicide after being falsely told to pay back debt they don’t owe by Robodebt. The system was ruled illegal by a court in 2019.

Ifeoma Ajunwa, the founding director of the AI and the Future of Work Program at Emory University, told Business Insider that if any government agency is to adopt AI, there should be an advisory council made up of technologists and social scientists, and affected constituencies should be given a say.

“I think we need to move cautiously when delegating governmental functions to AI technologies,” said Ajunwa. “While these tools are touted to increase efficiency and lower costs, we also need to establish guardrails for their use to protect citizens.”




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One fitness supplement can help you build muscle and maybe boost longevity without breaking the bank, according to experts

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Stop wasting your time and money on subpar supplements.

One ingredient should be your first priority for building muscle, burning fat, and aging gracefully, according to exercise science pros.

Creatine is a combo of amino acids that provides energy to muscles and other tissues, like the brain. Our bodies produce it naturally, but growing research suggests supplementing with store-bought pills and powders is a smart idea.

It’s long been the uncontested king in the fitness supplement world for fueling gains, personal trainers, dietitians, and researchers told Business Insider. Now, even more studies suggest it has benefits beyond the gym, helping bolster the brain to support mental and cognitive health.

For less than 50 cents a serving, it’s the gold standard of evidence-based health hacks, with an impressive resume of potential perks.

Want to start taking creatine? Here’s how it works, and the best way to use it for peak performance, according to top researchers.

Creatine helps fuel more reps, leading to better gains

Long a staple of the sports world and bodybuilding community alike, creatine has been extensively studied as a fitness supplement for decades. It first caught on in the ’90s thanks to Olympians who swore by it for elite athletic competition.

Since then, researchers have consistently found that it’s safe to use and offers a small but significant boost to performance.

It works by providing extra fuel in the body’s energy cycle. That translates to better gains or faster fat burning if you’re working out, since you can power through more work that you might otherwise.

That makes it a standout performer in the supplement aisle. Creatine has much stronger evidence and broader benefits than products like pre-workouts, which can vary in ingredients and often don’t disclose what’s actually included.

It’s also distinct from protein shakes and powders, which offer the same nutritional benefits as food, but in a more convenient format. There is some creatine in foods like meat and fish, but it’s much harder to get than protein — you’d have to eat more than two pounds of steak to get the amount of creatine in a single scoop of supplement powder.

Other supplements are less evidence-based, less reliable, and can have more risks, particularly when bought online via grey-market websites.

The only supplement that comes close to challenging creatine in terms of wide-ranging benefit and extensive research is caffeine. While caffeine can boost workouts and is relatively safe in moderate doses, it can have serious side effects in large amounts, so you’re better off having a coffee than a concentrated supplement.

The best type of creatine to choose for muscle gains and fat loss

Not all creatine on the market is the same. The most well-researched form is creatine monohydrate, which sports nutritionists consider reliably effective and safe. If you’re worried it causes hair loss or kidney damage, don’t be: these are myths that have been debunked in reputable studies.

Creatine can have side effects like digestive upset, which is typically mild, temporary, and linked to higher doses.

It’s also safe for your wallet. Even with past shortages, creatine monohydrate tends to be the cheapest form, especially if you buy it pure instead of mixed into complicated pre- or post-workout blends.

To take creatine, researchers typically recommend a dose of between 3 to 5 grams a day (people with larger bodies need more). However, emerging studies suggest the brain can benefit from higher doses. Scott Forbes, a sports science researcher and professor at Brandon University, said he recommends around 10 grams a day for cognitive health.

Still, despite all the potential benefits of creatine, it’s not a panacea. No supplement, no matter how well-researched, can match the benefits of healthy lifestyle factors such as nutrition, sleep, and consistent exercise. Trainers recommend starting with high-value habits such as these first before trying supplements.

Once you’re nailing your workouts, diet, and recovery, creatine may be just the thing to give your routine an extra edge.




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Kelsey Baker, Military and Defense Reporting Fellow

Legal experts: Veterans’ rights at stake in Kelly speech case

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A new lawsuit from a Democratic senator and combat veteran at the heart of a free speech fight seeks to block the Pentagon’s intensifying crackdown.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, warning that the Pentagon’s effort to punish him “sends a chilling message” to veterans who speak out against the Trump administration.

Hegseth accused Kelly of “seditious” acts after Kelly publicly reminded US service members that they are not required to follow illegal orders. The Pentagon’s actions against Kelly have troubling implications for the political speech of millions of veterans, military law experts said.

Hegseth’s effort to muzzle a US senator “places other retirees who have spoken up potentially in jeopardy,” said Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School who is a retired Air Force JAG. “Not knowing whether or not he’s going to come after you already has a chilling effect.”

Kelly said his lawsuit is about fighting back. The Democratic lawmaker announced the federal lawsuit on Monday. His suit also named the Department of Defense, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and the Navy Department as defendants. Kelly’s video urging troops not to follow illegal orders.

Veterans who serve 20 years or more are eligible for a military pension, but those benefits can be revoked or reduced if retirees are found to have violated military law while in uniform. By contrast, Hegseth’s move seeks to punish a veteran for his speech long after serving in uniform, an approach one expert on military law called baseless.

Kelly’s lawsuit argues that using the military justice system to punish veterans’ political speech risks setting a precedent that abuses the First Amendment rights of other retired troops.


Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth standing in front of a Department of War sign

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s prosecution of Kelly has implications for veterans’ speech, legal analysts said.

DoW photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Madelyn Keech



Legal basis in question

The lawsuit argues that nothing in the law allows the Pentagon to revisit a retirement determination based on a veteran’s speech. Such a move, the filing says, would raise “serious constitutional concerns” and leave retired service members facing a constant threat to their earned benefits.

There’s no legal basis for Hegseth’s pursuit, VanLandingham said. The defense secretary initially sought to court-martial Kelly, threatening him with the military equivalent of a criminal trial. It later opted for a lesser administrative punishment.

“The process is the punishment,” said Frank Rosenblatt, a retired Army JAG and professor at Mississippi College School of Law. “The claim against Kelly had no merit.”

“Senator Kelly’s speech is not punishable under the UCMJ,” the National Institute of Military Justice nonprofit group said in a December statement in reference to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The lawsuit seeks to halt actions that could reduce Kelly’s military rank and retirement pay and characterizes that effort as “unlawful.”

After filing the lawsuit, Kelly requested a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction from the federal court, seeking to halt the Pentagon’s actions while the case is reviewed on its merits. Both are emergency measures that ask a judge to stop government action before permanent harm occurs.

The federal government has been increasingly pushing cases important to the Trump administration onto a “rocket docket,” Rosenblatt said, accelerating litigation toward higher courts. If the judge assigned to the case, US District Judge Richard Leon, issues a ruling the government doesn’t like, “this could move very quickly to the DC Circuit and potentially the Supreme Court.”

Leon has previously ruled against the military’s authority over retirees.

“I am not concluding today that Congress could never authorize the court-martial of some military retirees,” Leon wrote in a 2019 memorandum opinion that rejected the government’s argument that military jurisdiction over all retirees was necessary to maintain good order and discipline of its active force. The judge noted he had not seen a clear argument for “why the exercise of such jurisdiction over all military retirees is necessary.”

In a post on X last week, Hegseth called Kelly’s video with five other Democratic lawmakers “reckless and seditious” and said it was “clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline.”

The military justice provisions that Hegseth accused Kelly of violating — Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice — are not explicitly tied to sedition and can cover a wide range of alleged misconduct.

Kelly’s lawsuit argues that allowing the executive branch to punish a member of Congress for speech is a threat to the Constitution and erodes congressional oversight of the armed services.

“We are aware of the litigation,” a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday when asked for comment on the lawsuit. “However, as a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation.” That same day, Hegseth took aim at Kelly’s military rank in an X post: “‘Captain’ Kelly knows exactly what he did, and that he will be held to account.”




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