Michigan

The state’s Department of Natural Resources has long conducted aerial surveys of its wildlife, and that count might be made more accurate soon through the use of new technologies.

Attorney General Dana Nessel is renewing her call for Michigan to pass a law requiring companies to immediately report data breaches to her office, which would allow for quickly alerting the public.

Now headed to the state Senate for consideration, House Bill 4141 would require all of Michigan's public and charter schools to adopt policies forbidding students from using cellphones during instructional time.

Attorney General Dana Nessel is challenging state energy regulators' approval of special electricity contracts between DTE Energy Co. and the developers of a high-profile data center in Saline Township.

The Springfield Township Board of Trustees has enacted a 180-day moratorium barring data center plans from being approved or even accepted for review. If deemed necessary, the time period could be extended.

Rex Menold is Michigan's new chief security officer for the state, which has recently seen several IT leadership changes and is seeking its next chief technology officer.

The Osceola County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of new portable and dual band radios at a cost of $330,552 during its meeting Dec. 16, by a vote of 5-1.

Saline Township’s decision to settle a lawsuit paved the way for a massive hyperscale data center for ChatGPT creator OpenAI and multinational technology firm Oracle to move forward.

Eric Swanson, who leads the Michigan Center for Shared Solutions, will concurrently serve as the state’s acting chief information officer, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday. Clark has been state CIO since 2021.

New state legislation unveiled this week would take a crack at regulating water usage, transparency standards and infrastructure costs in large-scale data center developments.

A local planning commission intended to host a public hearing on Thursday to discuss the rezoning of a property owned by Microsoft in the township, but the meeting was canceled due to overcapacity.

Michigan Central in Detroit is quickly becoming a center for air and ground mobility innovation. The state Advanced Air Mobility Initiative, announced in July, aims to stimulate drone development.

A township in eastern Washtenaw County has adopted rules that limit data centers to land zoned for industrial and commercial revitalization uses. The facilities are not allowed on land zoned for any other uses.

The Teradyne plant in Wixom is expected to house manufacturing for Universal Robots’ collaborative robots. It will serve as the company’s new U.S. Operations Hub, with support from a $2.7 million grant.

Officials in Sterling Heights say they are taking steps to protect consumers there by regulating virtual currency machines, including cryptocurrency kiosks and bitcoin ATMs.

Under the legislation, social media companies with more than 5 million users would be required to verify that new and current users are 18 or older.

A major new institute under development at the University of Michigan will involve a five-year investment and focus on biological artificial intelligence, clinical trials and commercialization.

State regulators approved a modified electricity rate for Consumers Energy customers, designed to let it serve data centers but protect consumers from increased costs. It’s the first of its kind in Michigan.