RAISE US, a new group dedicated to helping American workers adapt to changes being brought by AI, launched with $500 million in seed funding. The organization’s participants, funders, and advisors include numerous foundations, governors, and companies. The bipartisan group will be led by Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Governor of Rhode Island, and Eric Holcomb, former Governor of Indiana.
The organization will initially pilot educational partnerships in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah. RAISE US will also operate a Policy Lab that develops data-driven policy recommendations to promote worker retraining and redeployment. Coverage can be found in the NY Times and Politico.
This Week in Washington
- The Hill: President Trump signed a pair of landmark executive orders aimed at advancing quantum research and security. The first order directs the administration to develop quantum technology, infrastructure, and supply chains, and the second moves up the timeline of migrating to post-quantum cryptography to 2031.
- Nextgov: The Department of Energy (DOE) followed up on the quantum executive orders by unveiling the Quantum Genesis mission, a plan to lead the world in quantum computing by developing a “scientifically relevant” quantum computer by 2028.
- FedScoop: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the SBA Artificial Intelligence Utilization Act, a bill that would direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to report to Congress annually on where and how it is using AI. The bill, which followed a report showing the SBA routinely did not comply with federal use case requirements, now heads to the Senate.
- StateScoop: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has launched a grant program to provide states, cities, and tribal governments access to AI-based permitting streamlining software. The program provides up to $3 million in funding and allows states to choose the AI system they deploy.
- Politico: Representative Sam Liccardo (D-CA) released the Supporting Knowledge Through Industry-Led Learning (SKILL) Act. The bill would provide up to $500 million in tax credits for companies to assist higher ed in tech-skilling program development.
Article Summary
- CyberScoop: A private-public operation led by Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit successfully took down Amadey and StealC, two widely used cybercrime tools. The maneuver included joint coordination with Europol, Lumen, IBM, and others, acting on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
- MediaDailyNews: Microsoft unveiled a new ‘closed-loop cooling system’ which significantly reduces water use in data centers by keeping water in motion within the centers, rather than pulling in new water. Three data centers are using the new system, with plans to expand if successful.
- The Guardian: An artificial intelligence model has successfully extracted the text from a burned papyrus scroll recovered from Pompeii. The scroll, containing previously unread Stoic text from the second or third century BC, is one of 1,800 such scrolls found in Pompeii’s Herculaneum library.
Featured Highlight
- Satya Nadella’s Scratchpad
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella published a blog on the future of business in the AI era. Nadella argues that human agency, as the primary driver of token capital growth, will become significantly more important as we place an increasing emphasis on judgment and decision-making. Read the full blog.
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.