© 2025 WSHU
NPR News & Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

CT Senate Democrats prioritize AI regulation

Wikimedia

A bill to regulate the use of artificial intelligence is a priority on the agenda of Connecticut Senate Democrats for the upcoming state legislative session that begins on Wednesday.

A similar bill failed last year.

Senator James Maroney, co-chair of the General Law Committee, said the renewed drive to pass AI regulations comes after Colorado became the first state in the nation to pass a comprehensive artificial intelligence bill last May.

“Some of the pushback we had last year was from some people who didn’t want to be the first to pass the bill,” he said.

“Now Colorado has passed a comprehensive bill, and a number of other states have passed pieces of what we were looking to do,” Maroney said, who helped draft the Connecticut bill.

The Connecticut bill focuses on transparency and accountability for using artificial intelligence. It also calls for training the state’s workforce on how to use artificial intelligence and the criminalization of non-consensual intimate images and deepfake pornography.

“People want to feel safe, and businesses want to know what they can or can’t do,” Maroney said.

“So we are not going to see a full adoption and the full transformation that we can see from AI until they are clear government regulations that have been well thought out,” he said.

Gov. Ned Lamont also opposed last year’s version of the bill because he was concerned it might not be business-friendly.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.