Illinois lawmakers passed landmark legislation to regulate America’s leading AI companies. While the recently passed Senate Bill (SB) 315, the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act, mirrors existing provisions in enacted legislation in California and New York, which require frontier AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to create, publish and annually update plans to address severe or catastrophic risks from their AI models; the new measure would also mandate annual independent third-party audits of such AI companies on safety issues, which would be a first for any AI legislation in the U.S. Gov. JB Pritzker has indicated he intends to sign it.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced that her state would commit up to $25 million in state matching funds for the construction of a new Quantum Systems Laboratory (QSL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The commitment will help leverage federal and private dollars to bolster Massachusetts’ global leadership in quantum technology and create high-tech and wage jobs. The new lab will also provide the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston and others an opportunity to train on cutting-edge technology for the jobs of the future. Michigan business leaders recently launched the Innovation Alliance, a statewide coalition of 90 organizations—including universities, economic development groups, and incubators—to support the state’s innovation ecosystem. The Alliance builds upon the statewide coalition that helped advance the Michigan Innovation Fund, and seeks to join founders, investors, and policymakers with research universities, corporations, and startups. The goals of the alliance are to strengthen coordination and strategy alignment as well as support the state’s long-term economic competitiveness, positioning Michigan as a top state in the U.S. innovation economy.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and the NC Department of Commerce released North Carolina’s new "First in Opportunity” Strategic Economic Development Plan. The plan offers a statewide roadmap designed to guide North Carolina’s next phase of economic growth, strengthen long-term competitiveness, and expand opportunity statewide. The plan, which serves as the state’s Comprehensive Strategic Economic Development Plan, establishes a four-year vision for economic development across the state. It builds upon the state’s 2021 “First in Talent” strategy, broadening its focus to address both current and evolving economic drivers.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently introduced the administration’s new strategic plan to position the state to better coordinate investment and talent to reach its economic goals. The Utah Elevated plan places the Governor's Office of Economic Development in a central role to facilitate business growth and opportunity, and focuses on three parts of Utah's economy: the "experience economy," addressing the economic value of Utah’s outdoors and national parks; the "creative economy," focusing on film production and other arts; and the "innovation economy," involving entrepreneurship and advanced technology. The office will work with the state's Nucleus Institute, which operates under the Utah System of Higher Education, to support and advance collaboration between innovators, educators, and government.