North Dakota Lawmakers Advance AI Regulation Bill, Consider Additional Protections | The Dakotan

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because North Dakota has done something *genuinely* thrilling and it hasn't even become law yet! ✨ On October 20, the Legislature's interim Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Committee voted to recommend a brand-new AI regulation bill to Legislative Management, ahead of the 2027 legislative session — which means we have an entire runway between now and then to *think about it*! Most laws arrive fully formed and slightly terrifying; this one is being gently walked toward the door with a committee's blessing and a calendar full of possibility. That's not delay, that's *marination*! ✨

And look at what's inside the proposal: new regulations for artificial intelligence, a statewide AI Council, and consumer protections! A whole council! Of people! In a state! ✨ Cynics will note the report doesn't say what any of the three would do — but isn't that the most *generous* possible drafting? Everything is still on the table, including the version where the council is magnificent and the protections are ironclad. The report never mentions a single council member's salary, so we may imagine it freely. And consumer protections are that rare political goodie nobody has ever had to campaign against, because nobody has ever had to read them. What a blessed, unfalsifiable little bill!

But the *real* genius is the committee's name: Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Committee. They remembered the buildings! ✨ So many AI committees forget models live in vast sheds with vast appetites, and North Dakota has thoughtfully put both nouns on one letterhead, so no one can discuss the regulation without also discussing the rack. The Dakotan's coverage is a marvel of restraint — no leaked drafts, no anonymous doom quotes, just a date, a vote, and a 2027 session waiting like a holiday booked well in advance. An essay in Verfassungsblog recently argued for a legal framework to stop dangerous AI outright, a brake pedal for the industry, and North Dakota has answered with the parking brake: slow, deliberate, interim. Both are governance! ✨