Your weekly look at the intersection of AI, advocacy, and politics from the team at MFStrategies | www.MFStrategies.com
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DoD will mandate an AI/ML security framework for contractors, New York aims to ban AI‑generated political ads in the 90 days pre‑election, and Michigan’s El‑Sayed set enforceable “terms” for AI data centers. Meanwhile, states are advancing worker‑protection requirements even as the White House pushes preemption, and international “AI literacy” efforts risk cementing vendor lock‑in; signals that 2026 campaigns will be squeezed by compliance, utilities, and procurement choices.
Government Contracts Legal Forum Takeaway FY26 defense law tells DoD to create an AI/ML security framework and make contractors follow it through DFARS and CMMC. It targets supply-chain risks like data poisoning and adversarial tampering, and covers code, model weights, and training data. DoD must set timelines and brief Congress by June 16, 2026.
Why it matters This move turns AI security into a contract requirement, not a talking point—forcing anyone selling AI to DoD to harden models, data, and supply chains. As DoD standards spill into the broader market, campaigns and advocacy orgs will face more “locked-down” tools and higher compliance expectations, with real costs and unknown timelines. |
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The Center Square Takeaway New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will propose banning AI-generated content in political ads during the 90 days before an election. The plan would also let candidates sue over deepfake ads, moving beyond New York’s current disclosure-only rule. Expect legal clashes with Trump’s new order limiting state AI regulations.
Why it matters This turns AI abuse in campaigns from a “wild west” risk into a legal liability zone. Expect GOP and Trump allies to test the edges, betting enforcement lags tech. For small campaigns, it raises both protection and exposure: you gain a tool to fight deepfakes, but also a new compliance box to miss. With the FEC still slow-walking rules, state laws like this will define what’s actually allowed in 2026—until a conservative court or a Trump DOJ tries to knock them down. |
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Michigan Advance Takeaway Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed set “terms of engagement” for AI data centers: no utility rate hikes, real community input and transparency, reliability and jobs guarantees, closed-loop water systems, and enforceable penalties. He’s targeting more than 15 proposed sites in Michigan, including a 1.4-gigawatt Oracle/OpenAI project, and warns DTE and Consumers not to push costs onto ratepayers without grid upgrades.
Why it matters El-Sayed is trying to turn AI data centers from a “jobs and innovation” story into a “corporate costs on your bill” story. If that frame sticks, it pressures rivals to match his conditions, complicates utility-friendly siting deals, and gives local organizers a clear checklist to demand from every new AI project. |
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Foley & Lardner LLP Takeaway States and Congress are moving to police AI in hiring, while the White House pushes fewer rules. A Senate bill would make many employers report quarterly on AI-driven layoffs, hires, and retraining. A House bill would require bias audits, human oversight, and notices to workers; several states already require notices or audits, and New York City requires yearly bias checks.
Why it matters These dueling bills and Trump’s EO signal an emerging fault line: states and some in Congress want audits, notice, and bias checks, while the White House is openly trying to preempt them. That fight will shape whether your next organizing or HR tool must meet real worker protections—or just whatever standard vendors can get away with. |
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Source Asia Takeaway Indonesia’s human development ministry ran an AI leadership workshop with Microsoft and BINAR for senior officials. The training pushed data-driven policy, “precision” budgeting, and use of Copilot, and connects to Microsoft’s Elevate program, which says it has trained 1.2 million Indonesians. The government is pitching this as a path to faster, more citizen-focused services.
Why it matters This is a test case for how fast AI norms in government can harden around one vendor. If “AI literacy” for bureaucrats is taught mainly through Microsoft tools, that bakes commercial lock-in into how officials think about data, privacy, and service design—long before rules on transparency, bias, or public input catch up. |
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Worth Thinking About This Week
“The discussion around AI is no longer about whether we should adopt it or not. It’s about how we can adopt it quickly, effectively, efficiently, and productively.”
— Pratikno, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs
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