MITechNews Special ReportThe Price of AI — Part 1 As lawmakers propose new restrictions, communities across Michigan are weighing billions in AI investment against concerns over electricity, water use, noise and local control. LANSING - Michigan's effort to become a national leader in artificial intelligence has entered a new phase—not over AI itself, but over
LANSING - Cannabis Regulatory Agency Executive Director Brian Hanna told state lawmakers this week that the cannabis industry is under extreme pressure from falling prices, black market activity and the growing unregulated, intoxicating hemp products sold in gas stations and other retailers that compete with licensed products sold through dispensaries. Hanna said at a regulatory
Michigan’s startup community received a significant Xmas Gift on December 20. The Michigan Senate approved the $60 million Michigan Innovation Fund (HB 5651-53), and the House passed the final bills in the R&D tax credit package (HB 5100-5101). These initiatives will enhance investment in Michigan-based startups and drive research and development across the state. 1.
LANSING - Imagine you're at the office and you want a snack from the vending machine in the break room. Instead of digging around for change or fishing through your wallet for your debit card, you simply wave your hand in front of the machine, money comes out of your bank account, and you get
LANSING - Democrats' huge clean energy package, requiring utility providers to rely 100% on "clean energy" in the next 17 years and empowering Governor-appointees to certify commercial wind and solar projects, has passed both the Senate and House. All but one bill in the seven-bill package – SB 277, which allows farmers with protected land
LANSING - Michigan lawmakers are advancing bipartisan legislation to crack down on AI-generated deepfakes in election materials in a state where voters could determine control of the White House and the U.S. House in 2024. The legislative package could add Michigan to the handful of states restricting the use of artificial intelligence in political campaigns
LANSING - Senate Democrats are changing their “Clean Energy Future Plan” to have utilities develop a “100 percent clean energy standard” by 2040 instead of the 2035 deadline that was originally proposed. “Utilities would have to file clean energy plans in order to achieve a carbon-free energy portfolio of 80 percent starting in 2035, and
LANSING - Representatives Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) and Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) announced legislation that would provide relief to customers who lose power during outages and increase accountability over utility companies’ poor performance. Supporters from the League of Conservation Voters and We the People Action Fund spoke at the event in favor of the legislation. The
LANSING - Michigan Democrats have their best shot in decades to take control of the state Legislature after an independent commission voted in December on new political district boundaries that likely create many more competitive elections than in previous years. Democrats have been in the minority in the state House since 2011 and the Senate since 1984. While there is no guarantee they will win control of
LANSING - Michigan’s new economic development incentives, mostly designed to help Michigan better compete with other states for new electric vehicle assembly and battery plans, remind me of a hilarious scene in the 1996 hit movie, “Jerry McGuire.” McGuire, a sports agent played by Tom Cruise, is desperate to keep pro football client Rod Tidwell,
