North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Tuesday signed an executive order launching a statewide artificial intelligence framework. The order creates an AI leadership council, an AI accelerator at the Department of Information Technology, and oversight teams in each state agency.

The council, which includes government officials like state Chief Information Officer Teena Piccione, will act as an advisory board to the governor and state agencies on the use of AI in government, develop training programs and promoting AI literacy and fraud prevention for the public.

In a press release, Stein said the move is aimed at boosting economic growth and efficiency while ensuring responsible adoption. She pointed to major investments, like Amazon’s planned $10 billion AI innovation campus in Richmond County, as evidence of the state’s growing role in the tech economy.

“AI has the potential to transform how we work and live, carrying with it both extraordinary opportunities and real risks,” Stein said in the release. “Our state will be stronger if we are equipped to take on these challenges responsibly. I am looking forward to this council helping our state effectively deploy AI to enhance government operations, drive economic growth, and improves North Carolinians’ lives.”

With this move, North Carolina’s joins dozens of other states working to establish their own AI rules and strategies in recent years. Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington last year created task forces to explore ways AI can make state government more efficient.

The Colorado legislature, meanwhile, recently voted to delay implementing the state’s AI Act until the end of June next year, five months after the law was originally to go into effect.

In April, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new initiative that integrates generative AI technologies across state government, including aiding the Department of Transportation’s efforts to reduce traffic congestion and helping the Department of Tax and Fee Administration streamline its customer service systems.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves ordered agencies in January to appoint AI coordinators and develop policies stressing fairness, transparency and accountability.

Ohio has turned to AI for education, requiring all public schools to adopt AI policies by 2026, with model guidelines due at the end of this year.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation last week that amends a previously passed state law enacting AI safeguards — delaying enforcement of that initial law by several months.

Senate Bill 24-205 (SB 24-205), also known as the Colorado AI Act, was enacted in May to protect consumers from high-risk AI systems by implementing a risk management program. AI systems can pose risks of discrimination and bias in areas including hiring and education. Since the Colorado AI Act’s passage, some people have been working to slow down the regulations from taking effect.

SB 24-205 as signed in May would require AI developers to start protecting consumers from “reasonably foreseeable risks or algorithmic discrimination,” while Senate Bill 25B-004 (SB 25B-004) — signed Aug. 28 — amends that initial law to delay enforcement from Feb. 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026.

The newly signed SB 25B-004, also known as the AI Sunshine Act, will keep the key transparency and accountability measures from the Colorado AI Act intact. The legislation still aims to ensure Coloradans are protected from the foreseeable risks of high-risk systems through impact assessments, information disclosures, and publicly available risk summaries. Developers will be required to provide deployers with risk information. The key change, per the AI Sunshine Act, is the implementation date.

The proposed law initially aimed to simplify the original law and reduce obligations on Colorado businesses, but as passed, it effectively replaces the obligations enacted by the initial law, albeit on an adjusted timeline.

The AI Sunshine Act received support from a coalition of more than 50 local and national civil society organizations, including the Center for Democracy and Technology, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, AARP Colorado, and the National Employment Law Project.

A statement from this group emphasized that further delay of these accountability and transparency protections would leave Coloradans unprotected from risks posed by automated decision-making systems and would reward the “intransigence” in negotiations between public interest groups and corporate interest groups.

“Consumers want this,” Rep. Brianna Titone, state House District 27, said in a statement. “Poll after poll after poll. Consumers want us to do something on AI.”

Some stakeholders have been urging that the Colorado AI Act should be adjusted or repealed prior to that initial February 2026 deadline. State lawmakers have explored multiple bills to amend the state’s rules. Ultimately, the deadline change was the only AI law amendment that was enacted during the state’s special session.

President Donald Trump’s new AI Action Plan includes allowances for the federal government to restrict funding to states based on their AI policies. However, there is bipartisan support for maintaining states’ authority to regulate AI technologies.