Driving the Day

Today is May 12, 2025, and here are the key policymaker and stakeholder actions on AI you need to know: Some employees of the U.S. Copyright Office believe their former leader was ousted by the Trump Administration over the weekend because of an AI report expressing concern over training AI models on copyrighted materials. Meanwhile, The New York Times suggested access to AI chips could be “the focus of much deal making” during President Trump’s trip to the Middle East. Lastly, some tech companies are mobilizing “behind the idea of a milder national law” regulating AI in an effort to prevent more stringent, state-level AI lawmaking. A Republican tax bill released this weekend includes a 10-year federal preemption of the enforcement of state-level AI rules.

In this issue:

• Washington in Focus: The U.S. Department of Labor dropped its investigation into Scale AI.

• Around the Nation: The Washington Post discussed efforts by state and local officials to win parts of OpenAI’s project Stargate.

• Across the Pond: Pope Leo XIV suggested AI poses a challenge to humankind and the dignity of workers.

• Global Highlights: The Wall Street Journal discussed how China’s biggest chipmaker could threaten U.S. AI dominance.

• Outside Views: The Hill published an op-ed arguing Mark Zuckerberg is building a new surveillance state as Meta rolls out some of its AI products.

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