North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and Microsoft announced that they would expand their partnership to help workers in the building and construction trades add AI skills. As part of the initiative, workers can access no-cost AI literacy courses and earn AI credentials. In addition, non-profit TradesFutures will incorporate AI literacy into their apprenticeship readiness network program, which operates in 34 states. For additional discussion about this collaboration, see this Microsoft on the Issues blog.
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This Week in Washington
- Inside Towers: The House of Representatives passed two bills focused on broadband permitting. The first would speed up reviews of broadband deployment on public lands, while the second directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to track land use applications for broadband. Both bills will now head to the Senate.
- Politico: Republican leaders in the House, including Energy and Commerce Committee chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), outlined two bills to create a national data privacy standard. The bills would limit the collection of data for tech companies and allow consumers access to their data. If passed, the bills would preempt dozens of state-level data privacy laws.
- CyberScoop: Sean Plankey, President Trump’s nominee for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director, withdrew his nomination. Plankey’s nomination had stalled in the Senate since it was first submitted in March of 2025.
- Reuters: The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced the MATCH Act, a bill to close export control gaps and prevent the sale of chipmaking equipment to China. The bill has broad bipartisan support and the backing of chip companies such as Micron.
- Financial Times: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director Michael Kratsios accused China of “industrial-scale” theft of American artificial intelligence through distillation. The memo follows similar accusations by AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI.
Article Summary
- StateScoop: A proposal in Vermont would reallocate $9.5 million from the state’s Technology Modernization Special Fund to its general fund, raising alarms from industry groups including the Information Technology Industry Council. The proposal has also drawn concern from some state lawmakers.
- Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee, Florida, successfully fended off a cyberattack on April 17. The city temporarily shut down its website and isolated the threat, preventing any data from being compromised. In 2024, a cyberattack cost the city more than $2 million.
- ABC7 Los Angeles: An eighth-grade student in California developed an AI-powered tool to track his crossed eyes, allowing him to help correct them in real time. The innovative invention is currently in the patent process and could help more than 100 million people around the world who have crossed eyes.
Featured Podcast
- Microsoft Research Podcast
AI is having wide-ranging effects on sustainability. It requires significant electricity, but it is also driving advances in food systems, sustainable construction, and energy efficiency. Microsoft research leaders Amy Luers and Ishai Menache join host Doug Burger on the Microsoft Research Podcast to discuss these AI sustainability innovations. (Can we AI our way to a more sustainable world? – April 20, 2026) – 1 hour and 1 minute listen.
Note: Voices for Innovation regularly shares a range of opinion articles and press releases from organizations in and publications covering tech policy. These pieces are meant to educate our audience, not to endorse specific platforms or bills.