Troutman Pepper Locke State Attorneys General Team

Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell issued an advisory to provide guidance on how state consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and data security laws apply to artificial intelligence (AI). The advisory emphasizes that these existing laws apply to emerging technology, including AI systems.

Recently, a matter involving North Carolina Attorney General (AG) Josh Stein made headlines when it was announced that Affiliated Monitors Inc. would take over monitorship of HCA Healthcare. This relates to HCA’s compliance with the conditions set forth in an asset purchase agreement involving six North Carolina hospitals it acquired when it purchased Misson Health System in 2019 for $1.5 billion.[1] In addition to approving the asset purchase agreement, Stein sued HCA in a separate matter at the end of 2023 based on allegations of mismanagement, including inadequate staffing and lack of sterile equipment among other cost-cutting measures. While HCA is seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, in the asset purchase matter, both HCA and Stein consented to the use of a monitor, as well as this change. Stein stated, “[a] strong, independent and transparent monitor will go a long way in ensuring that HCA upholds it commitments” and “ensur[ing] that the people of western North Carolina have access to high-quality health care.”

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein led a bipartisan coalition of eight state AGs, including Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, and Texas, in requesting the District Court in the Southern District of Texas to amplify measures against John Caldwell Spiller, a repeat offender of federal and state telemarketing and telephone privacy laws.

New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James is suing JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings under New York’s consumer protection laws for allegedly attempting to boost consumer sales by making sustainability claims in its advertising that it had “no viable plan” for achieving.