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State sets AI disclosure rules; broader data-center regulation falters after lobbying and labor fights
Summary
Lawmakers approved AI transparency and child-safety safeguards while a broader effort to tax or regulate data centers collapsed late in the session after industry lobbying and opposition from trade unions and contractors.
The Legislature moved this session on a pair of technology-policy fronts: it adopted measures requiring AI operators to inform users when content has been produced or modified by AI and passed safeguards aimed at chatbot safety for children, while broader proposals to regulate or tax data centers failed to clear the session.
"There's a lot of pressure on state governments to act," Paul Queary said, describing state-level action as a response to stalled federal movement on artificial-intelligence policy. The panel credited lawmakers for passing targeted AI transparency rules and protections for systems used with minors.
At the same time, Shauna Sowersby and Paul Queary described the data-center package as a high-stakes, bipartisan battleground. Sowersby said lobbying by major tech firms was intense and that the bill "fell apart before it was able to make it to the end of session and get passed." Paul Queary added that trade groups representing electricians, plumbers and pipe fitters helped block broader regulation because data centers represent a major source of local work: "There was a real opposition from electricians and plumbers and pipe fitters."
Panelists said the data-center debate may return in future sessions with different compromises, but they stressed the session produced immediate consumer-facing AI rules that will affect labeling and safety practices for AI services.
