What’s available now and what’s coming
November 6, 2026
Dear Weill Cornell Medicine faculty, staff, and students,
AI is changing how we deliver care, conduct research, and teach. As we make new tools available to the WCM community, we must meet increasing regulatory and compliance expectations. Technology, compliance, and legal leaders are working together to support responsible, secure, and compliant AI use across WCM campuses in NYC and Qatar.
Here is what you need to know.
AI chat tools already available:- Microsoft Copilot Chat is currently the only institutionally approved AI chat tool at WCM. Always access Copilot Chat using your WCM work account, rather than a personal Microsoft account, to ensure you are using the institutionally approved version. Everyone with a CWID can access it.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot is an advanced tool that lets you use Copilot with other Microsoft applications (Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, etc.) and is available at the NYC campus for an additional fee.
New AI tools:
We will roll out each of these secured tools in phases over the next few weeks. Once you are notified that a tool is available, you must request access through ITS.
- ChatGPT will be available to all faculty, students, and staff at no cost.
- Claude will be available to researchers for an additional fee.
- The AI Gateway will provide access to additional AI models, including Google Gemini, and will be available to researchers for an additional fee.
What we ask of everyone:
- Protect our sensitive data. Never enter private, sensitive, or proprietary data into personal AI accounts or unapproved tools. This includes protected health information, identifiable human-subject data, student education records, confidential information, and unpublished or proprietary research data. Only enter sensitive information into an AI tool when that specific tool and use case have been expressly authorized by WCM. When in doubt, do not upload or disclose the information.
- Get approval first. Do not adopt new AI tools for WCM work without institutional review. This includes free, trial, and personally purchased AI tools, as well as AI features embedded in existing applications.
- Check the output. Review and validate AI-generated content before relying on it. Check for inaccuracies, incompleteness, or misleading statements. You remain responsible for the accuracy and appropriate use of AI-assisted tools in your work at WCM.
- Report concerns. Promptly report privacy incidents to the Office of Compliance, as well as any suspected misuse or disclosure of sensitive information.
For more guidance, see Cornell’s AI guidelines and the Responsible and Ethical Use of AI in Research and Scholarship | University Policy
Thank you for helping us adopt AI responsibly.
Vinay I. Varughese
Chief Information Officer
Chief Information Officer
Maria Joseph
Chief Privacy and Clinical Compliance Officer
Chief Privacy and Clinical Compliance Officer