September 3, 2026
In his latest piece for The Messina Memo, Jim argues that America’s most influential AI regulator right now isn’t the FTC, the FCC, or Congress. It is Kathy Hochul, the Governor of New York. And she is not alone. With Washington paralyzed by partisanship and a White House focused elsewhere, states are raising the regulatory floor on AI one law and one executive order at a time. More than 1,500 AI bills were introduced in 45 statehouses in the first three months of this year alone. The companies that understand this shift and build a strategy around it will have a head start. The ones that don’t will find themselves scrambling for the release lever.