Want to be part of AI policy discussions in 2025?
We expect state and federal lawmakers to focus on AI safety, access, adoption, and skilling in 2025. Microsoft Alumni Network members are invited to be part of the conversation. Sign up for Voices for Innovation today!
AI Policymaking at the State Level
Earlier this fall, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a contentious AI safety bill that many critics argued would undermine innovation. The California legislature took action in part because Congress has not advanced broad AI safety legislation. In contrast, the EU passed its own AI Act, which begins to go into effect in February 2025. Coverage of this story can be found from Reuters and Forbes. StateScoop notes that nearly 700 pieces of AI legislation were introduced at the state level in 2024—and a wave of AI legislation could come in 2025.
What’s at Stake with AI Policymaking?
In a recent Microsoft on the Issues blog, “The Next Great GPT: Advancing Prosperity in the Age of AI,” Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith reflects on the role that government will play in shaping change driven by advances in AI. He underscores how nations have prospered in the past by adopting general-purpose technologies, such as electricity and computers. The same is likely to happen with AI, and government leaders can help drive the adoption of the technology through key policies that build trust and support AI skilling.
Measuring Broadband Progress
Since 2017, Voices for Innovation has supported policies to close our nation’s broadband divide. Passage of the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) represented a major milestone in addressing this challenge, which included a $65 billion investment in broadband. Since that time, our nation has made measurable progress to bring connectivity, broadband, and digital devices to households around the country.
Microsoft recently launched a refresh of its Digital Equity Dashboard, which includes data from the FCC, the U.S. Census Bureau, Code.org, Broadband Now, and Microsoft. This tool helps policymakers and tech advocates better understand the digital divide—and respond. You can link to the Dashboard and read highlights about broadband progress in this Microsoft on the Issues blog.
Calling for Fair, Transparent Cloud Competition on the Merits
In a blog post, “Google’s Shadow Campaigns,” Microsoft CVP and Deputy General Counsel Rima Alaily blasts Google for its underhanded effort to “discredit Microsoft with competition authorities and policymakers, and mislead the public.” She argues that Google is aiming to “tilt the regulatory landscape in favor of its cloud services rather than competing on the merits.” While this blog focuses on the European marketplace and regulatory environment, it also addresses unfair, “behind the scenes” attacks in the U.S.