State Senator Napoleon Nelson is leading a bipartisan initiative to protect Pennsylvania’s government system from the risks posed by foreign hostile artificial intelligence, circulating a joint sponsorship memo for laws protecting the state’s data technology infrastructure.
“Ensuring the integrity of Pennsylvania data is important,” said Nelson, who works for the House Communications and Technical Committee. “Allowing foreign hostile AI to state-owned systems is a risk we cannot afford. This law ensures that we protect the privacy of Pennsylvanians and state security, and protects the infrastructure of sensitive information and technology.”
The proposed bill prohibits the use or possession of foreign hostile AI platforms that are not permitted on all state-owned electronic devices. Additionally, individuals are prohibited from accessing or attempting to access such AI platforms via state-owned wireless networks. Nelson’s bill comes as national security concerns about the impact of foreign AI continue to rise.
Pennsylvania’s Stacy Garrity, which recently banned the Chinese AI app Deepseek from the Treasury device, has strongly supported Nelson’s law.
“Rep. Nelson praises the lawmaker for sponsoring the legislation to protect the state’s assets from China’s Communist Party,” Garity said. “I am deeply concerned about the risk of sensitive data accessed by bad actors. That’s why I have taken swift action to ban foreign-owned AI from financial devices. I am strongly supportive of this effort to do the same across the state government.”
Nelson’s action has not yet been assigned a bill number or committee.
