Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI

The UAE is turning petroleum profits into digital influence, offering its advanced Falcon AI completely free—seeking to position itself as the neutral alternative in U.S.-China tech competition. Meanwhile, America's own AI strategy faces sharp criticism. Former Biden officials call Trump's Action Plan internally contradictory even as AEI experts praise its geopolitical ambition but question implementation feasibility and ambiguity. Hundreds of hardware store parking lots have quietly become surveillance nodes, with Home Depot and Lowe's AI cameras feeding license plate data directly to law enforcement. InnovateUS debuts free expert-curated fall workshop series: 1) AI for law enforcement (hosted by New Jersey and Rutgers), 2) democratic engagement design (Reboot and the GovLab with Harvard's Allen Lab), and 3) public communication in the AI age (led by former NYT Executive Editor Jill Abramson and Northeastern's John Wihbey). Government Technology also debuts its inaugural AI 50 recognition program. Read more in this week's AI News That Caught Our Eye.

The Center for Public Sector AI has launched a new recognition initiative called The AI 50, which honors people and institutions that are playing important roles in implementing and developing artificial intelligence within government agencies.

OpenAI will provide U.S. federal agencies access to ChatGPT Enterprise next year for $1. California approves regulations restricting how employers use AI tools in hiring while Illinois bans AI therapists. The UC Berkeley Labor Center publishes a database of unions’ collective bargaining agreements governing workplace use of AI while Gizmodo investigates how automation is deepening worker exploitation. Two federal judges withdraw rulings containing serious errors suspected to be caused by unauthorized use of AI. Henry Farrell and Hahrie Han argue that scholarship on AI and democracy focuses too much on deliberation and sortition, missing how democratic politics really work. Read more in this week's AI News That Caught Our Eye.