InnovateUS 
California has become the first state in the nation to make AI-enabled, large-scale public engagement a permanent function of state government.
With the authorization of AB 2103, Engaged California now has a permanent home in the Office of Data and Innovation, creating an ongoing way for Californians to help shape state policies and services.
Each week, we're spotlighting how public servants are putting the ideas from our new course, Designing Democratic Engagement with AI(opens in new window) into practice.
Together, the series moves module by module through the course, showing what defining goals, choosing methods, or using AI responsibly actually looks like on the ground.
Haven't taken the course yet? It's free and self-paced: sign up here(opens in new window).
[Jeffery Marino] After the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, the Office of Data and Innovation worked with affected communities to co-design a recovery plan.
AI tools helped us to synthesize 1,300 comments from Angelenos about how the fires impacted them into 19 policy options.
Through the Engaged California program, we gathered more than 1,300 comments from Angelenos about how the fires impacted them and what they needed to rebuild. AI tools helped us to synthesize that input into 19 policy options, which participants then deliberated over and prioritized.
Community members from the different fire zones participated together in the platform, and the results showed remarkable consistency in their top priorities, demonstrating community-wide agreement despite geographic separation.
State agencies worked in partnership with local governments and community organizations to act on these priorities
They aligned on an action plan spanning five policy priorities, ranging from undergrounding power lines to streamlining the permitting process.
State agencies worked in partnership with local governments and community organizations to act on these priorities with direct support from the Newsom administration.
That combination gave us both the authority and the responsibility to turn public input into action.