In this episode of Shoresides, we sit down with **North Carolina State Representative Zack Hawkins** during the final hours of critical budget negotiations. Hawkins discusses a controversial federal proposal that would have blocked state-level AI regulation for ten years — and explains why such preemption drew fierce bipartisan criticism. He warns of the risks of leaving states powerless as AI reshapes local economies, education, public safety, and equity.
Hawkins reflects on why governments, particularly in smaller or underserved communities, need flexibility to respond to AI’s uneven impacts — and how advocacy, transparency, and state-level experiments may still chart a path forward in a fast-changing technology landscape.
Rep Zack Hawkins: https://www.ncleg.gov/Members/Biography/H/742
State Policymaker Coalition Letter: https://ari.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/State-Policymaker-Coalition-Letter-Oppose-AI-Preemption-6-3-25.pdf
Senate Strikes AI Regulatory Ban from GOP Bill After Uproar from the States: https://apnews.com/article/congress-ai-provision-moratorium-states-20beeeb6967057be5fe64678f72f6ab0
Anthropic C.E.O.: Don’t Let A.I. Companies off the Hook: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/opinion/anthropic-ceo-regulate-transparency.html
Music Credit
“Sonik Elektronik” by 1000 Handz is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Available at the Free Music Archive. No changes were made.
