The Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy, in collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the Utah Department of Commerce, hosted a summit on December 2, 2025, to bring together industry leaders and local policymakers to address issues surrounding the developing AI industry.
Governor Spencer Cox said, “What we want is for every decision we make to be connected to AI, no matter where it resides. Will it serve humanity, promote human flourishing? Or will it make us dumber and worse? … AI must always be guided by humans. Systems must protect dignity, preserve human agency, and ensure that individuals have control over the tools that shape their work and lives.”
Cox’s presentation, along with founding members of AI industry leaders like Cloudflare and NVIDIA, focused on the state’s efforts to make AI safer and more productive in Utah, including investments in education and infrastructure.
In addition to economic topics, the summit also discussed policy concerns, with Cox reiterating his opposition to widespread AI regulation administered by the federal government. “States must act…The next (legislative) session will consider future research on AI companion harm reduction, transparency around deepfakes, broader data ownership and control, and the interaction between AI and health care,” Cox said. Cox’s statement echoes public letters sent by lawmakers across the country, including Utah’s senators and representatives. “We write this letter to express our strong opposition to the inclusion of preemptive language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would constrain the nation’s continued efforts to address the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI),” he wrote at the beginning of the letter. A blanket ban on state and local regulation of AI and automated decision-making systems, being debated in state legislatures, would impose a complete pause on policymaking at the very moment communities are demanding responsive solutions. Governor Cox said, “If (the Legislature) is not working as designed, the states have to act and we have to have the ability to do it. We’re going to fight for that ability.”
Utah’s economy is already seeing a major shift toward AI as an industry, with power generation capacity surging and hundreds of acres of land being purchased and developed for AI processing centers. The recently introduced Nuclear Power Initiative is preparing to deploy local-sized modular nuclear reactors adjacent to these AI centers to reduce power demand and environmental impact. This trend is likely to continue in the coming years as policymakers and business organizations invest more in AI development.
