NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 6, 2026--
New York Life today announced the appointment of new Chief AI Officer Zhen Zhao. In this role, Zhao will lead the company’s AI strategy, platforms and execution, driving the development and delivery of advanced AI and data science solutions, including agentic AI and machine learning capabilities.
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“AI presents new opportunities to deliver more seamless experiences and greater value for the clients, agents and advisors who rely on New York Life,” said New York Life Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Deepa Soni. “Zhen’s leadership will be essential as we continue to apply AI responsibly and thoughtfully — enhancing human connection, improving how we work and helping our agents and advisors better serve clients for the long term.”
Zhao joins New York Life from Chubb, where he most recently served as senior vice president, global head of AI Platform. In that role, he led global teams across AI platform development, governance and machine learning and large language model operations.
Earlier in his career, Zhao held leadership roles at Barclays and Comcast, where he led AI engineering, data platforms and machine learning innovation initiatives. He began his professional career as a software engineer at the People’s Bank of China.
In addition to his corporate leadership experience, Zhao is an accomplished innovator and researcher. He holds multiple patents and serves as an adjunct associate professor at Temple University.
Zhao earned a Ph.D. and master’s degree in computer engineering from Drexel University, as well as a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University.
ABOUT NEW YORK LIFE
New York Life Insurance Company ( www.newyorklife.com ), a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest 1 mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world. Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, disability income insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life has the highest financial strength ratings currently awarded to any U.S. life insurer from all four of the major credit rating agencies. 2
1 Based on revenue as reported by “Fortune 500 ranked within Industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual),” Fortune magazine, 9/30/2025. For methodology, please see https://fortune.com/company/new-york-life-insurance/.
2 Individual independent rating agency commentary as of 10/28/2025: A.M. Best (A++), Fitch (AAA), Moody’s Investors Service (Aa1), Standard & Poor’s (AA+).
New York Life Chief AI Officer Zhen Zhao
A Senate committee voted Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times at the hearing.
Also, Iran said Wednesday it's in the “final stage” of drafting an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. President Donald Trump has said a deal could be announced this week. The agreement is likely to be contingent on the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.
Here's the latest:
President Donald Trump’s administration said it plans to overhaul Head Start, tossing out many of the regulations that are the hallmark of the early education program for the nation’s poorest children.
Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the federally funded preschool program, said the proposed changes would encourage more local decision-making. Early childhood policy experts argue the deregulation could undermine Head Start’s position as the gold standard in early education.
Head Start centers serve around 700,000 of the nation’s most vulnerable children, including those who are homeless, in foster care or disabled. That wouldn’t change under the overhaul.
But Alex J. Adams, an assistant secretary at Health and Human Service, said the department is hoping to give Head Start centers the flexibility to change the way they operate. That means eliminating most of Head Start’s regulations, such as standards for low staff-to-student ratios or requirements to provide services to preschoolers’ families.
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The Senate has typically considered contempt charges even when they originate with a committee. But Paul is sending the matter directly to the Justice Department, bypassing the full Senate in a move Democrats decried as illegitimate.
That means the referral will land in the office of Washington’s U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
That’s notable given how Pirro has drawn fire recently from President Donald Trump over her effectively disputing the president’s false claims that vandals damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Pirro dropped charges against a man accused of damaging the pool’s new lining, saying it was instead the result of shoddy contractor work.
So, now, Pirro could end up deciding whether to prosecute Fauci.
The Senate committee on Thursday voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held the vote one week after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times when he appeared before the panel.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the committee chairman, has said that constitutional protection did not apply since Fauci last year received a pardon from Democratic President Joe Biden and thus did not have to worry about the threat of prosecution. Fauci and Democrats who opposed the contempt resolution say he had a well-founded fear of self-incrimination given a public desire by Republicans to seek his prosecution.
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Republicans and Democrats are digging in on differing interpretations of Fifth Amendment rights a person can invoke when questioned by authorities.
Republicans keep pointing to a presidential pardon for Fauci, suggesting that gave him cover from any prosecution related to his Senate testimony. And they’ve insisted the Supreme Court is on their side with a late 19th century case.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri noted that he purposefully asked Fauci the color of his tie and other basic questions to test the “good faith” of Fauci using the Fifth Amendment. Hawley was incredulous that Fauci would not answer those questions.
Democrats maintain that if the law it’s clear, it’s in Fauci’s favor. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the committee should delay a contempt vote and instead consider giving Fauci clear immunity from any perjury charge in exchange for answering questions.
Republicans voted that pitch down 8-7.
Democrats called for the first votes with proposals to delay the resolution against Fauci.
Those moves failed along party lines, with the eight Republicans prevailing over seven Democrats.
That includes Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma voting with his fellow Republicans. During Fauci’s appearance, Lankford told Fauci multiple times that he recognized his right to invoke the Fifth Amendment. Other Republicans followed Paul’s lead and excoriated Fauci for his choice.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania also stuck with his party after deviating in tone during Fauci’s appearance. Fetterman wasn’t critical of Fauci but he did not, as many Democrats did, blast Paul and the GOP majority’s approach.
The chairman firmly pushed back at Democrats’ assertions that he’s playing partisan politics.
“Oversight is not a courtesy this committee extends or a favor a former official grants us,” Paul said. “A subpoena is not an invitation. A subpoena with no consequence is not a subpoena. It’s a suggestion. Seeking the truth is not a witch hunt.”
Paul said he wasn’t trying to entrap Fauci.
“He had no liability if he told the truth,” he said.
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the ranking Democrat on the Senate panel, said the process to subpoena Fauci and now to hold him in contempt accomplish nothing to advance public health.
He called Sen. Paul’s work “a one-sided investigation and a rushed process ... that could harm our ability to conduct future investigations.”
Peters also expressed concerns that Paul could send a criminal contempt referral directly to federal prosecutors rather than allow a full Senate vote. Peters maintained that would violate Senate traditions on how to handle contempt.
The Kentucky senator used his opening statement as chairman to insist that the contempt vote isn’t about Fauci’s policy decisions during the pandemic, though Paul got in plenty of digs over mask and vaccine mandates and U.S. investments in Chinese research the senator believes could be responsible for the virus.
Paul, a Republican, said the vote is simply about whether a person who gets a Senate subpoena can plead the Fifth Amendment, as Fauci did more than 100 times.
The chairman emphasized that Fauci already has a federal pardon from former President Joe Biden. In the senator’s view, that effectively leaves Fauci with no Fifth Amendment privileges. Some Democrats and Fauci advocates have argued that the 85-year-old immunologist still could face perjury charges given Paul’s and other Republicans’ repeated statements that he should be jailed.
The Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has begun its meeting to consider holding Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt because he previously refused to answer the panel’s questions about how he handled the COVID-19 pandemic in his role as one of the federal government’s top public health officials.
Republicans hold a one-vote majority on the committee.
The resolution would refer Fauci to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, which is led by Jeanine Pirro.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, has said an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, which lies on the other side of the waterway, is in the “final stage” of drafting. Speaking Wednesday, he said a joint statement will be issued “if certain parties do not obstruct this process,” apparently referring to the U.S.
The agreement is likely to be contingent on the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.
The strait is crucial to global shipping and energy supplies. Before the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, around one fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
On Thursday, all eyes were on the U.S. for the next development.
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The Senate committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the Republican committee chairman, has said that constitutional protection didn’t apply since Fauci last year received a pardon from President Joe Biden and thus did not have to worry about the threat of prosecution.
But Fauci, in a statement issued before the hearing, said he had good reason to fear the possibility of criminal charges given what he said was Paul’s determination “to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote.”
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President Donald Trump waves after speaking at an event at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
President Donald Trump steps off from Marine One upon his arrival at the Ellipse just outside of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
