Advocating For American Dominance in AI | | |
NAIA RESPONDS TO VIRGINIA
OVERREACH ON AI REGULATION
| Governor Youngkin Vetoes The Bill | |
- Virginia's Governor Vetoes Over Regulation of AI Bill
- General Service Administration's New AI Tool
- Who are the new Trump Admin CIOs and CISOs?
- Trump EO Consolidates IT Procurement
- Kratsios Confirmed to Lead White House OSTP
- NAIA's General Counsel Talks About AI Legal Issues on New Podcast
- House Passes DOE and NSF AI Collaboration Effort
- Other Bills NAIA Is Tracking on the Hill
- Oklahoma Bans DeepSeek and DeepSeek Releases New Version
- Member Focus: iCES Corporation New Silver Member
- Become a NAIA Member Today!
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NAIA Supported Virginia Governor Youngkin's Veto of AI Bill
The Virginia General Assembly passed HB2094 the "High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Developer and Deployer Act" and when it landed on Governor Youngkin's desk, NAIA reached out to the Governor to express our concern about the legislation:
[HB2094] "reflects many of the same issues of the EU AI Act, Colorado AI Act and California's draft Automated Decision Making Technologies regulations, but is even more prescriptive than those rules. We are pleased to see the prohibition of a private cause of action for violating the Act and the possibility of a right to cure, but the Act cannot help but create a cloud over AI innovation as businesses are exploring safe ways to realize the potential benefits of the technology."
The Governor on Monday vetoed the bill (HERE) and stated:
"HB 2094’s 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.
The role of government in safeguarding AI practices should be one that enables and empowers innovators to create and grow, not one that stifles progress and places onerous burdens on our Commonwealth’s many business owners. This bill would harm the creation of new jobs, the attraction of new business investment, and the availability of innovative technology in the Commonwealth of Virginia."
California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill over regulating AI in California last year (HERE). A revised bill is working its way through. the California Legislature.
Thank you Governor Youngkin!
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GSA Rolls Out AI Tool for Employees
Last Thursday, the General Services Administration, announced (HERE) the release of a new AI tool for internal use in improving daily work productivity. Development of the technology began 18 months ago under the Biden Administration according to NBC News (HERE) and the Trump Administration has been supportive of the self-developed tool.
“This is a start, and we’ll be continually making improvements,” said Zach Whitman, GSA’s Chief AI Officer and Chief Data Officer (CDO). “That’s why staff input is essential. We want to understand how this tool fits into day-to-day workflows and where adjustments are needed to maximize its value.”
NBC reported "Noting that while the tool is still in its early stages, the rollout within GSA will allow the government to get the feedback necessary to make adjustments that will improve the functionality and how quickly it can be delivered to other agencies."
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Who Are the New Department and Agency CIOs and CISOs Under the Trump Administration? How will the Latest Exec Order Impact their Positions?
GovCIO put out a nice list (HERE) of who are the new federal technology leaders under President Trump as of last Friday. As they mention, historically, these positions were filled by career federal service employees with a few exceptions, i.e. Homeland Security, Defense and Veterans Affairs which were all appointed with Senate confirmation. However, there was a memo issued in February by the Office Personnel Management (OPM) to shift these roles to politically appointed positions (HERE).
The new CIOs will be working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and GSA as President Trump signed the "Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement" Executive Order. The EO specifically consolidates oversight for "all Government-wide acquisition contracts for information technology". Within 30-days, OMB is to "rationalize Government-wide indefinite delivery contract vehicles for information technology for agencies across the Government, including as part of identifying and eliminating contract duplication, redundancy, and other inefficiencies."
One to watch.
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Senate Confirms Kratsios to Lead Office of Science & Technology Policy
Yesterday, the US Senate overwhelming voted 75 to 25 to approve Michael Kratsios, as the new Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Working with AI & Crypto Czar, David Sacks, Kratsios will be the lead on Trump Administration technology policy. Over the next weeks, he will be digesting. the thousands of RFI comments and submissions related to the drafting of the Trump Administration's AI Action Plan. Congratulations Director Kratsios!
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NAIA General Counsel Steve Britt Interviewed on Fueling AI Podcast; Addresses Legal Concerns for AI Industry
Newtide, building enterprise AI for the fuels and convenience industry, recently started a new podcast series called "Fueling AI" and their second guest was our own General Counsel, Steve Britt. Industry veteran and host, Doug Haugh, sits down with Steve, who is a national AI legal and data privacy expert (and managing partner of Britt Law), to discuss the complexities of data privacy and AI. If you want insights on the legal pitfalls around AI, NAIA's Steve Britt is the man to ask. Watch this insightful podcast and learn about issues every AI firm should address.
Watch this quick clip on NAIA's new YouTube Channel HERE
Watch or listen to the complete podcast interview by downloading it from Spotify HERE
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House Passes Dept. of Energy and National Science Foundation Research Collaboration that includes AI
The House of Representatives, by voice vote, passed the "DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act" (HR 1350) and sent it on to the US Senate for its review and approval. The legislation calls for a partnership between the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation to conduct research, data sharing, sharing support research infrastructure, and organize education and training initiatives.
Specifically it directs the two to conduct collaborative research in a variety of focus areas, such as modeling and simulation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data assimilation, large-scale data analytics, predictive analysis, and advanced computational, storage, and networking capabilities in order to optimize algorithms for purposes related to energy and climate.
The bill was sponsored by Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI-11) and co-sponsored by Congressman James Baird (R-IN-4) and Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-DE-At-Large). The bill was referred to the Senate on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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Other Capitol Hill Legislation NAIA is Tracking
H.R. 1326 DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act similar to the above bill for the Dept. of Energy and National Science Foundation to collaborate on AI research and applications; this bill by Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK-3) directs the Dept. of Energy and Dept. of Agriculture to work together on AI collaborative research. HR 1326 passed the House on a roll call vote of 372 to 35 and sent to the Senate. The Senate referred it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
H.R. 730 Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act. Concern over the continued reduction in math scores in our schools had Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-5) submit this legislation. The bill requires the National Science Foundation to take certain actions to increase mathematical and statistical modeling education in elementary and secondary schools. The NSF will make competitive awards to institutions of higher ed and non-profit organizations that support this effort in schools. The House passed the bill and the Senate has referred it to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).
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Oklahoma Joins Other States and Nations in Banning DeepSeek As New Release Comes Out
As China's DeepSeek releases its latest version, DeepSeek-V3-0324, another state joins the list of those banning DeepSeek and Manus from being downloaded on government devices by their employees. The US Department of Commerce banned downloading DeepSeek last week.
The following governmental bodies have banned DeepSeek from being downloaded by employees so far (recently added):
US Dept. of Commerce, NASA, the Navy, the Pentagon, the US Congress,
States of Oklahoma, Tennessee, Montana, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Virginia and Texas,
Foreign governments of Denmark, South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and Australia.
Tennessee became the first state to also ban Manus along with DeepSeek.
No hearings scheduled yet on the Senate (S. 765) or House (HR 1121) Bills to ban DeepSeek.
| Click below for details on NAIA's Response to HR 1027 The QUIET Act and review our previous newsletters (links below) for earlier legislation filed in the 119th Congress. | NAIA Members: Do you have questions or comments on any of the legislation being submitted in Congress? Contact us at Membership@theNAIA.org | | |
NEW MEMBER FOCUS: iCES Corporation Joins as a Silver Startup Member of NAIA
Based in Vienna, Virginia, iCES Corporation is a premier Artificial Intelligence and Engineering firm specializing in AI-driven Cybersecurity, Data Science, and Systems Thinking. With a foundation in cutting-edge research, advanced engineering, and complex systems analysis. iCES delivers mission-critical solutions that empower Federal agencies and commercial enterprises to stay ahead of evolving challenges. Clients include the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, NOAA and the Intelligence Community plus working with Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and numerous universities.
iCES Corporation and its CEO Edward Ghafari recently became a Silver Level Startup Member of NAIA.
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Association (NAIA - EIN 33-1713769) are 95% tax deductible as an
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Act. Contributions to 501(c)(6) organizations are not deductible as charitable contributions on the donor's federal income tax return.The organization must be an association of persons having some common business interest and its purpose must be to promote this common business interest.
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