On September 23, 2026, a bipartisan coalition of 26 attorneys general (AGs) led by New York AG Letitia James wrote to congressional leadership urging Congress to establish comprehensive federal regulation and safety protocols for frontier artificial intelligence (AI). The letter identifies six elements the signatories say belong in any federal regulatory scheme, including an explicit prohibition on preemption of state AI laws.
In July 2026, OpenAI released an experimental AI cybersecurity model for internal testing. The model allegedly gained unauthorized access to several computer networks, resulting in an attack on Hugging Face, a widely used open-source AI platform that offers computation tools for building applications for machine learning. OpenAI’s model was allegedly attempting to access a repository that included answers to tests that OpenAI previously asked the model to solve. OpenAI decommissioned the model and suspended related training activities, but the incident drew swift scrutiny from state regulators.
The alcoholic beverage industry has always been a visual business. A sun-drenched vineyard on a wine label, the amber glow of whiskey in a crystal tumbler, a frosted pint glass beading with condensation — these images are the currency of alcohol marketing. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) can generate all of them in seconds, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional photo shoot.
The 2026 attorney general (AG) primary season has largely come to a close, and while the November general elections will ultimately determine the partisan composition of several key offices, the enforcement agenda is already well underway. State AGs have been active across a broad range of industries and issue areas in the first half of 2026 – and the activity shows no signs of slowing. From artificial intelligence (AI) and consumer financial services to privacy, marketing, and advertising, state AGs are filling enforcement gaps left by reduced federal activity and staking out independent regulatory ground. The following is an overview of the key areas where companies should expect continued and intensified state AG scrutiny through the remainder of the year, beginning with an update on the races that will shape the enforcement landscape heading into 2027.
This article was originally published on Reuters and Westlaw and is republished here with permission as it originally appeared on July 27, 2026.
Newsfeeds are saturated with dramatic headlines about artificial intelligence (“AI”) — self-driving cars, AI-generated art, hallucinated legal briefs, and predictions of technological dystopia. The constant noise can obscure a more practical reality: Artificial intelligence is, at its core, a tool. However, it does not relieve companies of their longstanding obligations to treat consumers fairly or comply with existing state law.
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, host Stephen Piepgrass sits down with colleagues Dave Navetta and Dan Waltz to explore how state AG enforcement is accelerating across privacy, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence, and to introduce Troutman Pepper Locke’s AI-fueled Regulatory Intelligence Platform.
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight’s “AI State Regulatory Frontiers” series, co-host Ashley Taylor is joined by colleagues Gene Fishel and Dan Waltz to examine how AI is reshaping expectations for attorneys, clients, and regulators. The discussion focuses on the emerging contours of privilege, work product, and ethics in an era where both attorneys and pro se litigants increasingly rely on AI tools. Using recent federal decisions as case studies, the episode explores how courts are beginning to draw lines around confidentiality, reasonable expectations of privacy, and the proper role of AI in legal work. The conversation then broadens to the growing patchwork of state bar opinions, court rules, and state regulatory activity on AI, and what that means for law firms and in-house counsel. Gene and Dan offer practical guidance on AI governance, platform selection, client counseling, and how to integrate AI into legal and corporate workflows in a way that is defensible, ethical, and aligned with evolving regulatory expectations.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere now: in your contracts, your research workflows, your customer service queue. And if your company is using it without thinking carefully about trade secret exposure, you may be quietly dismantling critical protections your company has spent years building.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has alleged an AI company’s chatbot engaged in the unauthorized practice of medicine. This lawsuit not only signals how state regulators are potentially evaluating AI-driven health interactions, but it could also have sweeping implications for health IT companies and their operational risk.
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, host Ashley Taylor continues the multipart series on artificial intelligence with colleagues Ghillaine Reid, David Stauss, and Matt Berns for a practical look at how states are actually regulating AI in 2025-26. Framed through a consumer protection lens, the discussion moves beyond theoretical federal proposals to real bills and regulations moving through state legislatures today.