The Connecticut Business and Industry Association partnered with META to hold AI training for business owners this week, months after opposing legislation before the general meeting that regulated corporate artificial intelligence.
The training held Tuesday comes two months after Connecticut legislators closed the legislative meeting again without imposing AI regulations on businesses.
Meta, the owner of Meta AI, was the first to roll out a training event for businesses at California headquarters, where AI’s private sector regulatory laws exist. However, the event in Hartford was Meta’s first AI training venture in the Northeast.
Throughout Connecticut, businesses use AI for a wide range of purposes, from healthcare monitoring and contract reviews to technical support and job description entry. AI is not regulated by Connecticut companies, but some companies are being cautious about fully implementing its use.
According to CBIA’s 2025 CT Business Survey, nearly three-quarters of respondents were interested in using AI technology for their business, but they didn’t know how to proceed. During training, participants learned effective communication of brand tones with AI and evaluated the specific use of AI in manipulation.
“(AI) is an important tool for any business to adapt and maintain in the future, and an essential tool for the workforce,” said Hartford Mayor Alnan Araparam at the event.
I’m interested but I’m not sure
Jason Howie, CEO of New Britain-based healthcare manufacturer AVNA, said their business uses AI for contract reviews, drafting job descriptions and helping with specific engineering issues.
Jacqueline Wetherell, director of workforce development and continuing education at CT State Quinebaug Valley, said Connecticut State University’s colleges and universities continue to provide AI accreditation to students under federal workforce training grants aimed at “filling the equity gap.”
Christopher Conway, CEO of the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce, and Kate Cobbs, development and program director for the Chamber of Commerce, said AI will help brainstorm and process internal data. For example, Kobs said that AI helped code the interface for her website despite having no experience in coding.
“We work with every big company in the city and every university in Connecticut,” Araparam said, pointing to the Connecticut AI Alliance, a coalition of 16 universities across the state that focuses on AI-oriented research, workforce training and education programs.
Last year, the Bureau of Economic Community Development announced the “Innovation Cluster.” It announced $100 million grant funding for innovative startups, including quantum computing and AI hubs.
Arulampalam pointed out Jeff Auker, director of development services at Hartford. He is working on a plan to turn the capital into an AI hub by establishing an applied AI centre near Dunkin’ Park. The centre is estimated to cost $90 million, with developers competing for almost half of the “Innovation Cluster” fund.
The decision to finalists for the grant has not yet been announced.
AI Method
At this year’s legislative meeting, lawmakers produced deep-fark porn revenge AI and secured funding for AI education. But Gov. Ned Lamont, who is threatened with veto, has suspended a bill that regulates the use of AI, which allows businesses to be called to vote in the House, despite passing the Senate with much support.
Senate Bill 2 required businesses to disclose their use of AI, document their processes, perform risk assessments, and protect consumers from discrimination. Supporters of the bill cited the risk of AI bias in housing, credit and job search assessments. The law sought to regulate AI rather than obstruct its use or development, according to Senator D-Milford, who has long defended AI regulations by sponsoring the law and co-chairing a statewide joint task force on the issue.
Lamont expressed concern that regulatory laws could hinder business development and investments statewide. Other opponents of the bill argued that the fragmented law is confusing and questioned Connecticut’s commitment to being one of the first states to regulate AI for businesses.
National regulations remain different, with Colorado and Utah passing corporate AI regulations laws within the state.
The Trump administration also made the AI’s creation of deep-fark porn in May, a crime. The original version of “One Big Beautiful Bill” contained a language that prohibits the state from enacting and implementing its own AI regulation laws for a decade. However, in the 99-1 Senate vote, the language will be removed and the state can still represent AI’s own regulatory laws.
David Stober, chief of staff at the Economic Community Development Bureau, pointed out the benefits of leveraging new technologies.
“There are good reasons to worry about the future, but I think what we need to do is to really lean towards this new technology and see how we can make the most of it and use it every day, in our individual and business life,” he said.
Chris Davis, vice president of public policy at CBIA, said, “We’re grateful that we’ve targeted us and that we’ve become the first (event) on the East Coast.
“We’re very excited about it,” he said.
