Cybersecurity & Tech

As Americans lose billions to large foreign networks of fraudsters, Congress members are calling for cyber fraud to be declared a national security threat. They’ve created a STOP Scams Caucus with bipartisan participation.

Shreve Passes Historic Anti-Scam Legislation Through Committee

Politico | Weekly Cybersecurity

It is now illegal to replace an actor with AI in California. The prohibition applies to both likenesses and voices. California also increased its investment in film and television tax credits recently.

California Governor | Governor Newsom signs bills to protect digital likeness of performers

An attorney in California relied on AI. It did not go well. The usual mix of 21 fake quotes, fake cases, and no human review. The judge is the first to levy the most costly penalty on the attorney, $10,000. @calmatters

We know that some AI engines make your AI inquiries public. Meta is said to be selling how & why you use AI. Fun times monetizing your user data- to give you ads. Yay! More ads.

TechCrunch | Meta plans to sell targeted ads based on data in your AI chats

St. Louis, Missouri City Council has been considering a local ordinance to pause data center development. Before this could happen, the mayor acted. An executive order has been issued that requires  data center developments to disclose both water and energy use,  job creation numbers, and distance from nearby neighborhoods, and noise pollution.  

Data Center Dynamics | Plans for data center paused in St. Louis amid regulatory changes and local pushback

OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank have announced 5 new AI data center projects this week. This in addition to its flagship site in Abilene, Texas. The new locations include two additional Texas locations: Milam County and locations in Shackelford County, Texas. 

The 3 additional location are Doña Ana County, New Mexico; and a site in the Midwest. These sites are included in the $500 AI investment these partners announced in January. 

Open AI | OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank expand Stargate with five new AI data center sites

Meta has pledged tens of millions to support the company’s efforts in state legislatures.

Bonjour, to the new super PAC— the American Technology Excellence Project. A goal is to champion stateside tech future. NYTimes says Meta is likely to be one the largest spenders in the 2026 midterm elections

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A biweekly update from the US Census Bureau found that of the 1.2 million businesses surveyed,  AI use among large businesses has dropped from 14% to under 12% from June to August. 

Futurism | Data Shows That AI Use Is Now Declining at Large Companies

Fairfax County, Virginia’s support of quantum computing is being called a blue ocean opportunity. Harvard Business Review tells us blue ocean opportunities are defined as “demand is created rather than fought over. There is ample opportunity for growth that is both profitable and rapid.” This means the industries aren’t fully evolved yet. 

Virginia says the only states that are also competing for quantum computing are Illinois and Colorado. You all know this because we started talking about Illinois and Colorado way back in January 2024.

Route Fifty | How quantum became a ‘blue ocean’ opportunity for a Virginia county

Ah…the Information Age, a time when you publicly do not oppose a data privacy bill, but organize the opposition and believe that all this will remain hidden. A tech company organized opposition to AB566 which amends California’s Privacy Act.  All the while publicly in California the company did not publicly oppose the bill. However, behind the scenes, it emailed business owners across the country alleging that the bill will  “hurt your ability to use online ads to reach customers.” The MarkUp

Legislation to curb catastrophic AI harm is moving through NY and CA Legislatures. California’s SB 53 is headed to the Governor’s desk, S6953B. Is awaiting action by New York’s Governor.

The bills seek to “establish rules aiming to prevent the most advanced, large-scale artificial intelligence models — known as frontier AI models — from causing catastrophic harm involving dozens of casualties or billion-dollar damages.”

Arguments calling for a veto include the usual- stifle innovation, patchwork of state laws, liability, and free speech. The NetChoice veto request letter.

California Legislature is close to final enactment of SB 243 that will protect vulnerable users of AI chatbots. California would be the first state to regulate AI chatbots and hold them accountable. We’ve all seen the slew of media on the negative impact of AI chatbots on vulnerable users. This bill would specifically address Ai chatbots engaging in suicidal ideation, self-harm, or sexually explicit content.

TechCrunch | A California bill that would regulate AI companion chatbots is close to becoming law

The American Psychological Association suggests that AI regulations need age controls and chatbot tailoring for children. AI development is moving so fast, and AI is learning largely on adult information which does not align with the developing brains of children.

NextGov | Psychology experts call for AI age controls and chatbot tailoring

In a rural area outside Grandbury, TX residents are petitioning to form the town of Mitchell Bend so as to address what they see as nuisance issues and property value declines related to a bitcoin operation. 

Fast Company

@MITSLOAN  released its 2025 Quantum Index Report. It found that quantum processor performance is improving. We talked recently about Microsoft launching a quantum chip. It is moving fast. The number of quantum patents have increased 5 fold in the last decade. 91% of patents are from research institutions. The U.S. is 2nd to China in the number of patents. Only 1% of VC funding worldwide is for quantum computing. Businesses are talking more and more about quantum publicly and it is snow balling with each quarter.  The demand for a quantum ready workforce has tripled since 2018.

Virginia’s Governor signed an Executive order that will require the state to use agentic AI to streamline regulations. To make this happen, the state has contracted with Vulcan Technologies, which plans to expand into other states. Details about the company which incorporated in April 2025 at the link below.

The project began in July and the Virginia Office of Regulatory management says it has already streamlined by 26.8% regulatory requirements.

Route Fifty | Inside Virginia’s AI-driven streamlining of regulations

We talked about Illinois new law prohibiting AI for mental health. Now we need to add Nevada’s AB 406, Utah’s HB 452, Pennsylvania’s proposed SB 631, New Jersey’s proposed HB 5603, and California’s proposed SB 579.

Association of Health Care Journalists | States crack down on AI for behavioral health care

In 2024, Colorado became the first state to establish a regulatory framework for AI. Now the Colorado Legislature is in a special session to revise its 2024 laws. The competing interests are consumer protections; the cost to public and higher education to implement regulations; and the business community’s concern that regulations will stifle innovation.

CPR | Competing visions of how — and how much — to regulate AI decision-making, as Colorado lawmakers return for their special session

A new report from MIT found that companies are reporting a 95% failure rate with generative AI. In total these companies spent $30 billion on generative AI. The report found that to achieve success, generative AI needs to achieve contextual adaptation and autonomous operation.

The Hill | Companies have invested billions into AI, 95 percent getting zero return

37 Attorneys General sent a letter to Instagram about its early August new location sharing feature. The letter calls on Instagram to revise its feature. They wrote, “Unrestricted location-sharing features pose a particular risk for minors as they can be readily used by sexual predators to identify and geographically target children in the real world. We know that dangerous individuals are already present on Instagram, and we have serious concerns that this feature will increase the likelihood of hands-on abuse and exploitation.”

Source NM | Attorneys general call on Meta to place privacy limits on new Instagram location feature

The Information Technology Industry Council has advice for the new national cyber director: focus on “results-driven action.” Their report lists recommendations that include advance national cyber security priorities (bye,bye state cyber laws); prepare for quantum threats; modernize cryptography; and harden the software supply chain to raise the cost for adversaries.

AI psychosis is explained by @time as “people developing delusions or distorted beliefs that appear to be triggered or reinforced by conversations with AI.” 

Seems like a good time to mention that Illinois became the first state to prohibit AI from offering mental health care or therapy. @morningbrew

According to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, 40+ states seek to regulate cryptocurrency. The main objectives of state regulation are “identifying and managing risks and nurturing innovative developments.”

Examples include a bill in Illinois to have crypto currencies register with the state’s  Department of Financial and Professional Regulation while exempting technology companies that provide no financial services to customers.

Route Fifty | States have been ‘at the forefront’ of efforts to regulate cryptocurrency, experts say

@mitsmr reminds us that AI can’t read people or a room, which means when your organization utilizes “real human communication” then your organization is ahead of the game.

Meet the new Commission on Cyber Force Generation, which sprouts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Cyber Solarium Commission 2.0. Because, you know, efficiency.

Who will be on this new commission? Cyber leaders in the private and public sectors, which will include former officials from U.S. Cyber Command, the NSA and the National Security Council.

What will it do? Report to the Trump administration “on the foundational details of organizing a new military service focused on the U.S.’ security in cyberspace.”

Who has been opposed? the Pentagon, bipartisan lawmakers, and the private sector. No biggie.

Politico | Wo is who at Blackhat

Kansas joins the list of states that are protecting personal data from being disclosed to the federal government. Kansas is refusing to send SNAP personal data to the USDA. Multiple states have sued to protect their residents’ data.  

Kansas Reflector | State officials again refuse to release Kansans’ personal data to USDA

In an interview Sam Altman of ChatGPT explains that the company is required to retain a record of everything you say to ChatGPT. Unsurprisingly, everything you say is not legally protected and thus can be used against you in court. Much like Facebook was a goldmine for lawyers, now it will be ChaGPT. @PCMag

In 2025, laws regulating crypto ATMs passed in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Rhode Island. 65% of fraud at crypto kiosks is perpetrated against people over 60.

Additional crypto kiosk legislation includes Spokane, Wash., which implemented a ban crypto ATMs. Vermont’s 2024 law imposes both new regulations and a one-year moratorium on new crypto ATMs.

Governing | Fearing Scams, States Add Regulations to Crypto ATMs

A federal judge in Alabama removed 3 attorneys from a matter because “a fine would not rectify the egregious misconduct in this case.” The federal judge removed the attorneys from the case and referred the issue to the state bar for reliance on imaginary AI case law.  The weirdest part in here for lawyers will be when the attorney team leader explains that he doesn’t ask his team to verify citations/research.

Alabama Reflector | Federal judge removes attorneys from Alabama DOC lawsuit after AI fabricated citations

A brief from the Open Technology Institute supports the use of zero-knowledge proofs to verify users’ ages. This verification process is said to have better protection for personal privacy. 

How does this work? Remember when liquor stores were given permission to scan your id for age verification but they retain no information? Similar process here in that the “user can prove their information to the verifying party without revealing that information itself, just its validity.”  

Route Fifty | Age verification needs better privacy protections, report says

This is a fun term (hello, sarcasm. Nice to see you today). Intellectual leveling means that technology (Chat bots & AI) can funnel users with similar personalities and chat histories toward similar conclusions, a process that threatens to homogenize human intellect. @nautilusmag

Daron Acemoglu, an @mit Institute professor and Nobel laureate, says AI hype isn’t the same as when the internet was hyped. He’s of the opinion that “hype is an enemy of business success.”

The internet had “clear transformative potential for communication, commerce, and networking.” He adds, “While it works well for repetitive cognitive tasks, it’s unclear how AI will benefit workers in roles as diverse as entertainment, custodial work, and leadership.” @MITSloan

@financialtimes says that “McKinsey has stopped its China business from undertaking consultancy work related to generative artificial intelligence amid geopolitical tensions.⁠”
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@cnbc Tells us that Goldman Sachs and Bank of New York Mellon are offering institutional investors the ability to purchase tokenized money market funds.

A report by the Neurorights Foundation found that 29 of 30 neurotechnology products offer no meaningful protections for your neurological data. States are stepping in to protect neurological data beyond conventional medical settings. These states include Colorado, California, and Montana. KFF Health News

KFF Health News | States Pass Privacy Laws To Protect Brain Data Collected by Devices

In 2024, crypto thefts totaled $1.87 billion. So far in 2025, a total of $2.17 billion of crypto has been stolen, and we’ re barely halfway through the year. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis estimates that by the end of the year crypto thefts will top $5 billion. @cnbc

Texas, Utah, and Louisiana are the only 3 states that have passed App Store accountability bills. What do these bills do again? They require app stores like Apple’s and Google’s to identify when users are children and obtain parental consent before apps can be downloaded. There’s some lingering constitutional issues- surprise! legislatures passing bills that could be unconstitutional. Color me astonished.

Route Fifty | Louisiana becomes third state to pass app store accountability law

The Government AI Landscape Assessment, developed by the civic tech nonprofit Code for America, measured states’ readiness in adopting AI based on three core areas: Leadership and Governance, AI Capacity Building and Technical Infrastructure & Capabilities. 3 states are ready: PA, NJ & UT. TX is ranked established along with CA and NY.

City & State Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania is a Top 3 state for government AI readiness

Denmark is allowing the Danish to copyright their identity, face, voice, image to protect it from AI use. @culturiety_

We are entering a new phase of AI— AI backlash. Duolingo dropped humans as language teachers, and Duolingo is feeling the Ai backlash. @wired says it’s a growing reaction by Americans that AI replacing humans isn’t acceptable. Compound this with AI errors, public statements of AI antisemitism, environmental impact of AI, and recent studies pointing to the impact of AI on brain functioning by MIT researchers. @time

Conservative challenges to the Universal Service Fund lost 6:3 at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supremes upheld the USF by finding that lawmakers gave the FCC sufficient flexibility to implement USF and raise the money it feels it needs through USAC, and the FCC has retained its decision-making authority by only taking nonbinding advice from the nonprofit.

The USF provides funds for broadband access.

Route Fifty | Major broadband subsidy survives Supreme Court challenge

Virginia does not have statewide data center regulations, so local governments are stepping in to regulate. It’s weird, right? Virginia has 1/3 of the world’s data centers and its’s a free for all. Virginia Legislature passed HB 1601 (2025 | VA) to regulate dalta centers and the bill was vetoed by the Governor. The veto message said local governments are best suited to determine data center regulations. So local governments are stepping in to create data center solutions that meet local needs.

R Street Institute is warning of the cyber risk from agentic AI. This is the AI agent who helps you navigate a government service, a company, etc… layers of agentic service are vulnerable to cyber attack including the agent’s perception layer, data poisoning, the AI agent’s reasoning module, its action module, & memory module.

Route Fifty | Report warns of agentic AI cyber risks

Bonjour to American Innovators Network the new kid on the block lobbying on state AI regulations. The American Innovators Network is a coalition of early-stage artificial intelligence startups and venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz.  

City & State NY | ‘Little tech’ lobby starts campaign against AI regulation bills

On June 6th, a new Executive Order rolled back executive orders from Presidents Obama and Biden which strengthened digital identities.

Experts warn that this new order opens the door for more digital identity theft. It also offers no replacements. Politico Weekly Cybersecurity.

 260 state legislators from all 50 states have signed a letter opposing a provision in the federal budget reconciliation bill that would limit state power in regulating AI. Texans signing this letter include:

Representative Angie Chen Button, Texas House of Representatives

Representative Josey Garcia, Texas House of Representatives

Representative Donna Howard, Texas House of Representatives

Representative John Lujan, Texas House of Representatives

Representative Candy Noble, Texas House of Representatives

Representative Claudia Ordaz, Texas House of Representatives

Representative Jared Patterson, Texas House of Representatives

5 competitively bid, congressionally authorized semiconductor manufacturing projects have been cancelled. These include already announced projects such as n aerospace HUB in WA & ID and a biotechnology center in AL. Some say these issue is that these projects included collaborations between health science centers and historically Black colleges and universities and had inclusion and diversity provisions. Has no one read any of the bajillion studies on the economic and community benefits of diversity and inclusion. You know, analytical data….

Geekwire | Spokane’s aerospace Tech Hub loses $48M federal grant, sparking regional outcry

A datacenter project in Kansas City received planning commission approval for the 550-acre business park for construction of a $12.6 billion data center. The project is sensitive to nearby landowners and seeks to provide a great of a buffer as possible such as  eight-foot earth berms, 3,000 trees and other landscaping to obstruct the view of people living nearby. The project is expected to become the county’s largest property tax payer at an estimated $12.9 million annually.

Route Fifty | Kansas City, Kansas, planning commission advances proposed $12.6B data center

This month, Oregon became the 2nd state to ban the sale of precise geolocation data. Maryland passed a similar bill in 2024, which will be effective this fall.

Other states such as Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont are considering similar legislation. Similar legislation failed to pass this spring in California.

The Record | Oregon becomes second state to ban sale of precise geolocation data

Montana amended its genetic privacy law this May. SB 163 added protections for neural data.

Arizona’s Supreme Court is utilizing AI reporters to deliver its opinions. The public information officer insists that the human touch is required to confirm the information and push the information to news outlets.

NBC | Arizona Supreme Court turns to AI-generated ‘reporters’ to deliver news

The Chicago Times publishes a Summer Reading list of 15 books. 5 of which were actual books. The other 10 books were complete fabrications from AI.

I’d say the 10 books are fiction, but that just gets punny and confusing. The content was created with generative AI and AI said- “I got you,” and chose to hallucinate up a bunch of nonexistent books. 

I think we got here because people aren’t reading enough books. 

NPR | How an AI-generated summer reading list got published in major newspapers

The Government Accountability Office released a report this week that raises concerns about AI use in financial services. The concerns include potentially biased lending decisions, data quality issues, privacy concerns, and new cybersecurity threats. The report also highlights that federal regulatory agencies don’t have the tools to oversee AI use. 

Texas is the 3rd state to create a bitcoin reserve. Arizona and New Hampshire beat Texas to the 1st spot. Texas’ SB21 opens the Bitcoin Reserve only to cryptocurrencies with a 12-month average market cap of at least $500 billion can be purchase.

Bitcoin magazine | Texas Legislature Passes Bitcoin Reserve Bill

So, how is NYC going to become the crypto capital? Creating a digital asset for city services and taxes; creating a new “digital asset advisory council” to advise on workforce issues; and adopting a digital coin.

Government Technology | NYC Mayor Spells Out Big Plans for Crypto and Blockchain

@harvard_business_review tells us that the top uses of GenAI are therapy/companionship; organizing “my life;” “finding my purpose;” enhanced learning; generating ideas; fun and nonsense; creativity; and healthier living.”

The Digital Equity Act is a federal act that seeks to expand access to broadband. President Trump says it is “racist and illegal $2.5 billion giveaway.” In response, Alisa Valentin, broadband policy director at open internet advocacy group Public Knowledge, said in a statement, “The irony is that the weaponization of the word ‘equity’ will halt progress in closing the digital divide and will also severely impact his voter base of white Americans who live in rural areas in red states, including veterans and the elderly.” 

Route Fifty | BEAD uncertainty swirls, joined by Trump’s threats to the Digital Equity Act

California Privacy Protection Agency is the first  of its kind in the nation. It was approved by voters in 2020. It proposed some rules about AI that  the Governor and businesses said would be too costly. This week the agency revised its proposed rules, which they say won’t apply to 90% of businesses and reduces the cost to businesses from $843 million to $143 million. 

Governing | California’s Privacy Agency Backs Off AI Regulations

Yale’s Digital Ethics Center helps states navigate the balance of regulation and innovation in state AI legislation.

Yale News | Yale’s Digital Ethics Center helps U.S. states navigate the promise and perils of AI

Colorado Legislature attempted to reach an agreement to resolve concerns over their 1st in the nation AI bill. Those negotiations met legislative deadlines and the previously passed AI legislation will be implemented.

GovTech | Colorado House Fails in Late-Night Move to Slow AI Rules

What are data centers saying in the midst of discussions of AI and energy use? Data centers create jobs, are economic engines, are key to the future of the economy, that have contributed $3.46 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product and created more than 600,000 direct jobs according to the industry.

Route Fifty | Data centers defend environmental record amid AI push

North Carolina’s House Bill 462 would allow consumers to limit online shadowing (you know. the algorithms) and prevent their personal information from being sold for targeted ads or data mining. 

Route Fifty | North Carolina lawmakers consider bill to let consumers opt out of targeted online ads

Colorado’s Senate Bill 25-86 “would regulate social media companies by requiring they remove people from the platform who violate the terms of service by exploiting young people for sexual content or sell drugs or firearms.” The Senate voted to override the veto, the House did not.

Colorado’s Governor vetoed the measure stating “This law imposes sweeping requirements that social media platforms, rather than law enforcement, enforce state law. It mandates a private company to investigate and impose the government’s chosen penalty of permanently deplatforming a user even if the underlying complaint is malicious and unwarranted. In our judicial proceedings, people receive due process when they are suspected of breaking the law.“

Route Fifty | Colorado Senate votes to override Polis veto of social media regulation bill

The Executive Order is a call ““To ensure the United States remains a global leader in this technological revolution, we must provide our Nation’s youth with opportunities to cultivate the skills and understanding necessary to use and create the next generation of AI technology,”

Add Arizona to the growing list of state legislatures that are creating state bitcoin reserves. SB 1025 strengthens state recognition of crypto currencies & SB 1373 creates the reserve. The bills are on the Governor’s desk. If signed it would be the first state bitcoin reserve.

NBC News | Arizona Legislature pushes for a state bitcoin reserve

@MIT Sloan introduces us to the new term of art, “intelligent choice architectures.” Intelligent choice architectures are “AI systems that proactively participate in structuring and shaping strategic decisions.”

What makes this so powerful? “their ability to actively learn from outcomes, seek information, and alter the options available to decision makers.”

Guess which country leads in innovation? If you guessed Switzerland, you are correct. Sweden is 2nd. The U.S. is third. WIPO’s GII 2024 results

@techcrunch reports that OpenAI is complaining that saying please and thank you to their AI costs them millions. These are smart people, right? So why not program the AI to ignore please and thank you? What kind of a society are we if there is no please and thank you- that’s like the barest of minimums.

A new report from Semperis, an identity security and cyber resilience company, found that 62% of water and power operators in the United States and the United Kingdom have been targeted by cyberattacks in the past year, 80% of which have been targeted multiple times. 59% of those surveyed confirmed that cyber criminals sponsored by nation-states were behind the attacks, which experts say could be higher.

More than half — 57% — said the attacks disrupted their normal operations, while 54% suffered permanent corruption or destruction of their data or systems. 

Route Fifty | ‘Living off the land’ a major cyber threat to critical infrastructure, report finds

Pennsylvania Legislature is considering making it a criminal offense to use a tracking device to track someone. HB 407 (2025 | PA) Similar laws have been enacted in Ohio; Florida; and according to NCSL 11 states have created criminal offense for tracking devises.

Route Fifty } PA House passes bill creating criminal offense for tracking device-based stalking

An Arkansas judge struck down the state’s social media law that restricts kids social media use and verifies the ages of all account holders. The judge found the law unconstitutional as it violates residents’ First Amendment rights by restricting speech without being tailored narrowly to serve a “compelling government interest.” 

Route Fifty | Judge strikes down Arkansas social media law

Let’s take a look at some fresh words that are used to describe crypto mining or data center needs:

proofing — the solving of math problems in crypto mining

currency mining — a rebrand that could sound prettier

Route Fifty | Legislators propose bills to back data centers, legislate blockchain technology

Add Ohio to the list of states seeking to prohibit the use of AI in healthcare decisions. SB 164 (2025 | OH) ” would provide transparency for patients on the use of AI by health insurers by making sure there is human oversight on whether or not someone receives health coverage.”  The bill author wants accountability for healthcare insurance.

WFMJ | Cutrona introduces legislation addressing usage of AI in healthcare authorization

R Street says that if we want to look for a way to regulate AI without impeding innovation look to Virginia and Texas. 900 bills regulating AI have been proposed in 2025. Virginia Governor vetoed HB 2094 because its “rigid framework fails to account for the rapidly evolving and fast-moving nature of the AI industry and puts an especially onerous burden on smaller firms and startups that lack large legal compliance departments.”

They also say that Texas’ HB 149 (2025 | TX) removed problematic issues that mirrored Virginia’s vetoed legislation.

Governing | More States Reject Fear-Based AI Regulation

Last week we talked about agentic AI. Let’s peruse what the CEO of Signal (yeah… that Signal), Meredith Whittaker, says about agentic AI. She says we should be concerned about privacy. To do what it says it can do, it will need access to all aspects of your data- your contacts, your credit cards, your calendar… yeah, it will know you better than you know yourself. @growthforgeai

23 and Me DNA database of 7 million individuals will be sold off during its bankruptcy proceedings. Odds on legislation to protect DNA data? @techcrunch

A recent survey by Salesforce shows that 87% support AI as a tool to access public benefits. We’re talking everything from SBA loans to Medicare. It’s not generative AI but rather agenicAI which is an adaptable form of AI that learns from its interactions with customers/clients/applicants.

Route Fifty | Majority of applicants say they’d use AI agent to navigate public benefits processes

22 states are passing legislation to legitimize cryptocurrency. State strategies range from bitcoin reserves to permitting institutional investment in cryptocurrency. Arizona is allowing state funds to be invested in crypto through their pension system in proposed Senate Bill 1373. 

Route Fifty | ‘Magic money’: Arizona Republicans advance bills to legitimize cryptocurrency

SB 7 (2025 | CA), known as the “No Robo Bosses Act,” would prohibit employment decisions from being made by AI. Specifically, employers could not make decisions solely by using artificial intelligence tools to make hiring, promotion, discipline, or termination decisions without human oversight.

Illinois lawmakers are considering AI reforms that would create statewide committee to establish guidance for the use of AI in public education.  HB2503 and SB1556 (2025 | IL). School districts would have to include AI use in their annual reports to the state board of education.

25 states have guidance on AI use in public education.

Route Fifty | Illinois lawmakers weigh new proposal to set guardrails around AI

New Mexico is considering competing data privacy bills. HB 410 (2025 | NM) came from the state Attorney General and is supported by tech companies while SB 420 (2025 | NM) is supported by community groups. The House author of HB 410 says the bill will “specifically empowers New Mexicans to take legal action if their information is unlawfully transferred to third parties by the likes of Elon Musk and his DOGE employees.”

Route Fifty | Big Tech lobbies New Mexico for AG-backed bill

Meet  Armur AI , a company that proactively simulates attacks using AI-driven penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities before hackers do. They call it AI driven offense. “In the future of cybersecurity, the most vigorous defense will belong to those who hack first.”  

Entrepreneur | Cybersecurity’s New Frontier: AI That Thinks Like a Hacker

The Center for Internet Security “found that 82% of K-12 organizations suffered what it called a “cyber incident,” based on an 18-month study of 5,000 institutions.” 45% of these cyber incidents involve humans through phishing or other social engineering methods. A friendly reminder to educate your people about phishing techniques.

Route Fifty | 82% of schools suffered recent cyber breaches, report says

Open AI’s contribution to the U.S. government’s “AI Action Plan,” is to push for a definition of fair use. Open AI  likens the best fair use definition to the U.S. copyright strategy that “[preserves] American AI models’ ability to learn from copyrighted material.” 

Tech Crunch | OpenAI calls for US government to codify ‘fair use’ for AI training

The Administration is open to proactively hacking back at hackers. This will be one to watch. States are keen to parrot the federal government in 2025. 

Politico | Weekly Cybersecurity

Google co-founder, Larry Page, is all in on Ai startup focused on manufacturing. How will Ai impact manufacturing? The startup looks to craft AI that can create “highly optimized” designs for objects and then have a factory build them.

Tech Crunch | Google co-founder Larry Page reportedly has a new AI startup

In fall 2024, PwC surveyed 345 investors across geographies, asset classes and investment approaches to learn more about their expectations, concerns and outlook for the future. The resulting analysis, PwC’s Global Investor Survey 2024: Cautiously optimistic, investors expect growth, identifies four key themes:

• Reinvention imperative: Innovation and new ways of doing business are top of mind for investors.
• Generative AI optimism: The promise of GenAI is high for a large majority of investors.
• Climate investment opportunities: Climate actions are important investment drivers.
• Trust through communication: Most investors trust companies to make decisions for the long term.

Harvard Law School Forum on Governance | What is Top of Mind for US Investors in 2025?

A federal court in Wyoming has fined 3 lawyers for multiple “hallucinated” AI citations in a legal brief. Do we all need to be reminded of Ronald Regan’s “trust, but verify? ” Or, am I the only paranoid lawyer out there that verifies everything? 

Bloomberg Law | Morgan & Morgan Lawyers Fined for ‘Hallucinated’ AI Citations

15 states are seeking ways to limit crypto fraud by placing limitations on crypto ATMs. The trend is that the bills would limit transactions to $1,000 a day per customer, and cap fees at $5 or between 3%- 15% of a transaction’s cost. Crypto fraud increased 45% according to an annual report by the FBI.

Governing | Lawmakers Seek Crypto ATM Regulations to Fight Fraud

Protecting Investors’ Personally Identifiable Information Act would protect investors’  names, addresses, and years of birth from disclosure. Currently investor personally identifiable information is held in the Consolidated Audit Trail. “In September 2024, Senator Britt, alongside Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and 12 other Republican lawmakers, sent a letter to then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler, urging the immediate suspension of rule filings tied to the CAT.”

Calhoun Journal | Senators Britt and Kennedy Reintroduce Bill to Limit SEC Collection of Investors’ Personal Data

AI wasn’t a hot topic for the nation’s governors in their state of the state speeches. 5 governors discussed cybersecurity. AI was a trusty sidekick to energy use and generation in speeches.

Government Technology | Governors’ Tech Commitments in 2025

Should data centers have to disclose how much power they use? AB 222 (2025 | CA) says yes, yes they should disclose power usage. Data centers could also have their choice of power generation determined by the state utility regulator under this measure.

Microsoft has reveled its first quantum computing chip. It took 2 decades of research. And just think states are just beginning to invest in quantum computing and establish frameworks for the industry to thrive. @cnbc

A Florida lawmaker wants to ban the use of AI to detect firearms in public spaces. HB 491 (2025 | FL) would apply to the use of AI by governmental entities and private entities that use AI for firearm detection.

Florida Today | Rep. Miller files bill to limit use of artificial intelligence in gun surveillance

Tech companies are spending more than ever on AI. This year alone big tech is projecting spending additional tens of billions on AI. This is up from the record AI spending in 2024. It also includes spending for data centers that support AI. Looking to Microsoft, it plans to spend $80 billion on AI data centers during its fiscal year that ends in June 2025.

WSJ | Tech Giants Double Down on Their Massive AI Spending

Utah is considering SB 180 (2025 | UT) that will require law enforcement agencies to create an AI policy. Disclosure of AI use would be required if AI is used in police reports. An actual human would be required to review the AI output.

Route Fifty | Utah lawmaker wants police to disclose when they use artificial intelligence

Maryland is putting $1 billion toward growing quantum computing in the state and declared a “Capital of Quantum” public-private partnership. New Mexico announced that Quantinuum would build a new research and development center in the state. 

Route Fifty | Jockeying intensifies for state quantum leadership

The new Department of Energy Secretary announced that the agency will focus on quantum computing and AI to “maintain America’s global competitiveness.” We’ve talked about state initiatives in quantum computing in Illinois, Indiana, Colorado’s quantum tax incentives, and the anticipated growth rate of quantum computing.

The University of Indiana is offering a graduate certificate in cybersecurity law and policy. It began as a collaboration between the law school,  Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering and Kelley School of Business. It eventually grew into the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research.

UI | Students in nation’s first cybersecurity law program provide legal advice on evolving tech

Missouri Attorney General has instituted, by rule, the nation’s first requirement that social media companies  offer algorithmic choice. The rule requires platforms to be transparent about the algorithms used and offer users the option to select alternatives.

Route Fifty | Missouri rule would require algorithm ‘transparency’ on social media