Utah lawmaker tapped to lead national AI task force

By Kyle Dunphey | The Herald Journal

A Utah lawmaker was recently tapped to lead a national task force to help guide state-level artificial intelligence policies.

State Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, will co-chair the newly announced National Task Force on State AI Policy, according to an announcement Monday from the Future Caucus, a national, bipartisan nonprofit that supports young policymakers.

The task force will push back on what the Future Caucus called “partisan gridlock” that can impact AI policy, and make sure state lawmakers have resources and tools before pushing through legislation. It will serve as a “national brain trust for responsible AI governance at the state level,” the nonprofit said in a news release.

he task force will host public hearings and confidential briefings related to AI, and produce a policy memo that the caucus said will help guide AI policymaking around the country.

“This is a defining moment,” said Fiefia in a statement on Monday. “We can’t afford to let AI policy be divided by party or decided by default. As younger lawmakers, we have a unique opportunity to lead with balance and foresight.”

The announcement of the task force comes just weeks after the U.S. Senate stripped a proposed moratorium on state-based artificial intelligence laws from Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill,” following seven weeks of dwindling support for the idea.

GOP senators had initially pitched the 10-year ban on states’ AI laws under the argument that the federal government should be the only legislative body to regulate the technology.

Fiefia, who previously worked for Google and is an outspoken proponent of policies related to data and AI, is fresh off his first legislative session in the Utah House. He passed HB418, which would direct tech and social media companies to embrace interoperability — it’s a first-of-its-kind bill that allows social media users to have greater control over their own data, while forcing companies to allow for increased data-sharing across different platforms.

The bill, in a way, directs tech companies to view your personal data similar to how telecommunication companies view your phone number.

Fiefia will co-chair the task force with Monique Priestley, a Democrat state representative from Vermont who has also worked on AI legislation.