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The Impact A weekly look at the intersection of AI, advocacy, and politics from the team at MFStrategies | www.MFStrategies.com |
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The Impact Podcast Hosts Addie and Hal break down this week's news in 10 minutes |
| The AI Campaign Playbook Our roadmap for how to implement AI safely and effectively in your organization. |
| Vendor Scorecards Coming soon |
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Power over AI is consolidating: Congress is weighing wiping out state rules via the NDAA as a Trump EO surfaces to police the gray zone, while AWS pledges $50B to become Washington’s AI backbone. Inside government, DoD’s GAMECHANGER turns hours into minutes; abroad, Australia will let ‘PROTECTED’ data touch generative AI. Net-net: a narrow set of players are writing the rulebook and building the server farms, with standards set in D.C. flowing downstream to states, contractors, and campaigns—raising the stakes for what protections survive. |
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AI / Political News of the Week
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Brookings Takeaway DoD’s GAMECHANGER is a policy search tool that turns hours of research into minutes. Built with Booz Allen using open-source tools, it now serves about 21,000 users and has versions at other agencies. It worked thanks to a clear problem, steady funding, and a strong champion—but it also hit rigid security rules and staff turnover.
Why it matters Agency back-office AI is moving from pilot to plumbing, redirecting money and norms toward domain-tuned, open-source tools—shifting power to integrators over general chatbots. But brittle networks, turnover, and loss of champions risk stall-outs, leaving agencies dependent on contractors and half-steps when budgets and oversight tighten. |
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| | | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth Takeaway Texas lawmakers are defending a new AI law as Congress and the Trump White House weigh wiping out state rules via the NDAA and a draft executive order. The law bans government “social scoring” and requires consent for biometric data, which could curb tools like Clearview AI. A new poll shows Americans oppose federal preemption by 3-to-1, and Republicans are split.
Why it matters Preemption would shift power to D.C. and Silicon Valley, nullifying Texas-style biometric and consumer protections and erasing state leverage. Expect lawsuits and NDAA horse-trading; public opposition and GOP splits keep the outcome uncertain—and your compliance plans in flux. |
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| | | IT Pro Takeaway AWS will invest up to $50B to add 1.3 gigawatts of compute for GovCloud, Secret, and Top Secret regions starting next year. Agencies get broader access to Bedrock, SageMaker, Nova, Claude, open-weight models, and Trainium/Nvidia hardware to speed work from cyber defense to drug discovery.
Why it matters AWS is positioning itself as the government’s AI backbone, accelerating adoption but shifting leverage to a single vendor. Watch for fights over oversight, civil liberties, energy use, and model choice; federal standards here will cascade to states and contractors. |
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| | | West Virginia Watch Takeaway Four West Virginia lawmakers joined 280 state legislators in a bipartisan letter opposing a federal plan to block state AI rules. The push comes as House GOP leaders explore adding preemption to the NDAA after a similar plan and a potential executive order stalled. Preemption could wipe out tougher state deepfake and consumer protections now on the books.
Why it matters If Congress bars states from making AI rules, tougher deepfake and consumer protections could vanish, shifting power to industry-friendly regulators. Expect a clash between state coalitions and D.C. leadership; watch for quiet NDAA riders that erase local wins before the 2026 cycle. |
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| | | War on the Rocks Takeaway AI is already a weapon in the gray zone—shaping influence, markets, and cyber moves before shots are fired. The author proposes a simple framework: ban deepfakes and election meddling, tightly oversee sensitive tools, and allow defensive uses that protect infrastructure. He urges a Trump executive order to set these rules now, which would put the White House in charge of the boundaries.
Why it matters Moving AI rules to the gray zone sets how the U.S. runs influence, sanctions, and talks right now. A Trump EO would centralize the boundary-setting in the White House—raising stakes for transparency, restraint, and domestic blowback. |
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| | | iTnews Takeaway Australia’s Home Affairs is laying the groundwork to let agencies use generative AI with ‘PROTECTED’ data, moving beyond ‘OFFICIAL’. Briefings have drawn 80+ suppliers, and use is limited to a small approved list; ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are cleared for ‘OFFICIAL’ records. Labor also wants every public servant to have secure AI access and will require a chief AI officer in each agency by July.
Why it matters Expect vendor lock-in and new liability: moving ‘PROTECTED’ data into generative AI will push agencies onto a small approved set and shift risk to civil servants. It may set a global template, but who answers for leaks, bias, and bad calls? |
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Worth thinking about “They just want to pour lots of money into Washington, D.C., and then set the standard there.” — Brendan Steinhauser, The Alliance for Secure AI |
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