Last week, the American Legislative Exchange Council dropped its State AI Policy Toolkit, a blueprint for states to nurture AI growth without heavy-handed rules.
Arizona lawmakers, led by Rep. Justin Wilmeth’s House AI and Innovation Committee, are already echoing its core ideas — from protecting the “right to compute,” to blocking AI-specific taxes — while the federal government remains gridlocked on broader reforms.
For the uninitiated, ALEC is a Virginia-based corporate/conservative group that writes model legislation for lawmakers across the country. ALEC bills itself as “the vanguard for freedom who dedicate their time and resources to promote limited government, free markets and federalism.”
The nonprofit boasts the membership of one-quarter of state lawmakers across the country, including Republican Arizona Sen. T.J. Shope, who sits on ALEC’s board of directors.
If the Arizona Legislature were to embrace the ALEC agenda completely, it would position the state as a testing ground for pro-innovation policies, as opposed to states like Rhode Island that are experimenting with more oversight-focused legislation.
And that’s setting up an interesting ideological battle at the Legislature, where raucous floor debates allow Democratic lawmakers to propose amendments that are geared more toward protecting consumers and the environment than unleashing the money-making power of AI.
ALEC’s plan for AI laws
ALEC's playbook lands in Phoenix
ALEC's toolkit outlines seven model policies aimed at accelerating AI deployment.
Key principles include the Right to Compute Act, which treats computing power as a fundamental right, shielding it from restrictions unless tied to proven harms like fraud.
It also pushes the Artificial Intelligence Tax Non-Discrimination Act to prevent states from targeting AI firms or data centers with unique levies, arguing such moves would drive investment elsewhere.
No new laws are needed for “AI bias” in high-stakes decisions like hiring or lending, ALEC argues, since existing civil rights statutes already prohibit discrimination regardless of technology. Instead, states should prioritize stopping deepfakes — especially non-consensual porn or child exploitation — via targeted bills like its model legislation, the Stop Deepfake CSAM Act.
The toolkit rounds out with calls for attorney general-led AI advisory offices, free-market resolutions, and “permissionless innovation” to avoid stifling startups.
In Arizona, Wilmeth's committee has embraced this light-touch vibe since its January launch. Wilmeth has vowed to keep the state "innovation friendly," spotlighting AI pilots in agencies while sidelining bills he sees as overly restrictive.
For example, his HB2592, which passed out of the House and is headed to the Senate, mandates state agencies adopt AI for streamlining tasks and identify regulations blocking innovation — straight out of ALEC's deregulation playbook.
Other Arizona measures advancing this session target specific harms and opportunities, staying on-brand with the ALEC toolkit, which says “regulation should be narrowly tailored and focused on specific harmful conduct.”
For example, Republican Rep. Tony Rivero's HB2311 requires AI firms to disclose to kids that they are talking to a bot, among other safeguards. And Republican Rep. Nick Kupper's HB2133 bans pornographic deepfakes — directly nodding to ALEC's anti-deepfake focus.
And bills like HB2410 from Republican Rep. Alexander Kolodin, which protects your privacy when you ask an AI bot for legal advice, are squarely in line with ALEC’s focus on safeguarding privacy.
Even niche bills like Republican Rep. Teresa Martinez's HB2371, allowing AI-assisted divorce arbitration, and Wilmeth's HB4080 for AI in nursing pilots, show alignment with ALEC’s general pro-innovation guidelines.
Looking ahead, we’re going to keep an eye on floor debates at the Legislature to see how the ALEC-backed arguments fare in the face of Democratic calls for broader regulations.
Factory fast-track: Apple executives said they’re planning to buy 100 million semiconductor chips made at the TSMC Phoenix plant this year, the Republic’s Corina Vanek reports. And the plant is growing so quickly that city and county planners are fast-tracking improvements to Loop 303, per the Republic’s Lauren De Young.
Support from the top: Officials at Arizona State University are fully on board with making AI tools ubiquitous on campus, Jessica Boehm reports for Axios. ASU President Michael Crow is leading the charge, calling AI the reference librarian that he’s always wanted and casting it as the great education equalizer. Crow also says much of the criticism of using AI in education comes from teachers who fear losing their jobs or seeing their favorite programs eliminated.
Adapting to the audience: As Pima Community College embraces AI for both students and teachers, one professor is using AI to turn his lessons into podcasts that sound like a casual conversation, Claire Graham reports for KGUN.
“Speaking of brain power, Roger made a huge defense of flowcharts. And look, I get it. Drawing boxes and arrows, it feels a bit remedial,” one AI host says.
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It’s not Ozempic: Fraudsters are running weight-loss scams and duping consumers into thinking they’re getting a great deal when in fact they just get fake drugs or nothing at all, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a news release. The fraudsters are using AI-generated fake endorsements from celebrities and video testimonials purportedly from people telling how much weight they lost. Mayes isn’t happy with the social media platforms that spread those videos.
“Enough is enough,” Mayes said. “AI is making it easier than ever for scammers to create convincing fake ads and videos. My office recently joined other Attorneys General urging Meta to enforce its AI policies on Instagram and Facebook and take down these fraudulent ads before more Arizonans lose their hard-earned money.”
Edison’s successors: The commercial real estate investment firm Menlo Equities from Menlo Park, California is planning to build a 38-acre data center and tech park in Awhatukee, the Republic’s Shawn Raymundo reports. The data centers are expected to go online early next year.
It’s only been seven months since Tilly Norwood came on the scene. And her creators are already planning on giving her a whole universe!
As we previously noted, Tilly is an “AI Generated Actor” by Particle6 and Xicioa, a UK-based AI video production studio.
When Tilly was first introduced last May, there was widespread concern from famous A-list actors and the actors’ union. Their main argument was that creativity should remain the domain of humans, rather than machines.
The many “faces” of Tilly Norwood.
But Particle6 hasn’t let the criticism slow it down.
On Monday, Particle6 CEO Eline Van Der Velden issued a press release announcing the company was hiring an ex-Amazon Prime exec and rapidly expanding their IP around Tilly and the Tillyverse.
Tillyverse is meant to be a dynamic, constantly evolving digital universe where Tilly and a new generation of AI characters will “live, collaborate and build careers.”
For what it’s worth, Tilly is still an “unemployed AI worker” who has yet to start acting. But she’s got 90k followers on Instagram — so yeah, she’s clearly working on it.
