Emerging Tech

Newly passed state legislation designed to usher a wave of data centers into West Virginia by nixing local checks on such projects has drawn impassioned responses from some residents of the state.

As agentic artificial intelligence and other tools become more automated — and frequently used — experts say that human oversight and appropriate guardrails will remain foundational.

Questions about the quantities of water needed to keep data centers cool has become another point of contention in the debate over the industry’s explosive growth in Minnesota.

The technology company will not have to appear before state regulators as they consider its subsidiary’s request to power a planned $10 billion artificial intelligence data center with three new gas plants.

Robots offer potential for public safety, but state governments — working with a big name in robotics — are grappling with how to regulate them, especially as the prospect of weaponization raises urgent concerns.

A new data center is in the works directly across from Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc.'s sprawling data center campus in the central Texas city.

Dozens of data center announcements have flooded the Atlanta area of late, but the latest is poised to be the largest of them all — and one of the biggest developments in state history.

Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a bill establishing third-degree criminal penalties in the state for people who produce deepfake audio or visual media for unlawful purposes — or who share deepfakes created for unlawful purposes.

The West Virginia House of Delegates passed the legislation at the request of Gov. Patrick Morrisey. It’s a sweeping energy bill that aims to usher in an increase of data center development.

The state measure would put fees in place, compelling data centers to pay for conservation. It would also require a 65 percent carbon-free energy supply, and public disclosure of their electricity use and water withdrawals.

WaveAerospace is building drones to fly in weather that others cannot, including heavy winds, precipitation or even icing conditions by redistributing waste heat produced by onboard systems.

The county Public Utility District will set limits on the amount of electrical power data centers can seek. Work on additional transmission capacity is underway, but it is a lengthy process, an official said.

In the Carolinas, ICF drones have conducted rapid damage assessments in a 100-mile zone following Hurricane Helene as part of a geospatial initiative to speed up federal recovery funding requests.

Procurement is growing up, adopting AI technology and other features as public agencies seek to get more for their money. Euna’s newest feature seeks to centralize procurement while reducing compliance risk.

The lawsuit alleges robocalls that used a copy of former President Joe Biden’s voice generated by artificial intelligence could have “long-lasting and detrimental” impacts on voters.

How local governments are putting Enterprise Service Management to work.

State Treasurer Brad Briner announced a 12-week pilot of the technology with its creator, OpenAI. The endeavor aims to determine whether the artificial intelligence platform can save time, look deeply into data and spot potential red flags.

The Virginia governor's veto of a measure that would have regulated artificial intelligence, and the revision of an AI governance bill in Texas, signal a potentially noteworthy juncture in the creation of such policy.