Maryland Innovation Summit

Remarks as delivered
Delivered on Thursday, October 1, 2026

Thank you, Francesca, for that introduction and for your leadership.

And thank you to the entire Maryland State Innovation Team.

We launched this team in 2024, and I could not be prouder of what it has already accomplished.

Last month, this team launched the Maryland Community Compass.

It uses AI to connect small businesses and community developers with data, funding, and support.

Today, they released the Maryland Business AI Benchmark.

It gives our state its most in-depth look yet at how Maryland employers are using AI.

And they brought all of you together for this summit.

This team builds its work with the people of Maryland, and it delivers for our families and communities.

Francesca, Charlie, and everyone on the Innovation Team, thank you.

I want to recognize Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, and Comptroller Brooke Lierman.

I also want to thank the members of the General Assembly and the local leaders who are here.

And to the members of my Cabinet who lead this work every day, thank you.

In January 2024, I signed an executive order on the responsible use of AI in state government.

At the time, I said my iPhone asks me to update it every eight weeks.

But we had not updated the way government works in nearly a decade.

Since I signed that order, AI has moved faster than anyone at that table anticipated.

The single most important thing to understand about this moment is the pace.

The promise of this technology is real.

AI can grow our economy and drive breakthroughs in health.

It can improve how the State serves residents.

And it can open doors for people to start a business or build new skills.

But there is a reason for people to be concerned.

And right now, there are no federal guardrails.

The absence of federal leadership on this is staggering, which is why I'm grateful for leaders like April McClain Delaney who are ready to do the work.

And my fear is the absence of guardrails is being driven by one word, greed.

The stock market continues to hit record highs, primarily driven by equities, primarily driven by seven different companies, and primarily driven because of AI investments.

We cannot afford to wait while this federal administration sits on their hands because they and their donors profit.

So Maryland is choosing to lead.

We will help build the framework the country will eventually adopt.

And that is why we brought this room together.

I want to thank our partners in philanthropy, business, labor, higher education, and the nonprofit world.

Since 2023, our administration has launched more than 50 partnerships with more than 190 organizations.

Those partnerships have secured more than $200 million in funding and in-kind services. I want to thank Secretary Dorsey.

And when a pilot works, we build it into how the State operates.

On AI, Maryland has been at this for years.

Yet while details of this work have changed over time.

The values behind it have not.

Last week, we put those values into three principles to guide every action the State takes on AI.

We will protect our people.

We will center our workers.

And we will keep our kids safe.

Protecting our people means guardrails that safeguard their rights, their privacy, and their well-being.

It means eliminating threats to our economy, our democracy and our critical infrastructure.

So our AI Subcabinet is developing legislative recommendations to regulate frontier AI companies.

Those recommendations include safety testing, independent audits, whistleblower protections and public reporting and a requirement to report incidents within 72 hours.

We will also establish a Right of Publicity, so your likeness belongs to you from the start.

If someone clones it, you should not have to prove harm before you can act.

And our agencies will make clear that civil rights law already applies to AI-driven decisions.

Centering our workers also starts with taking their concerns seriously.

Francesca just shared what Maryland businesses told us.

Currently only 4% expect AI to reduce their headcount.

Most plan to help their existing employees do more with AI.

I'm glad to hear that.

But our answer to workers cannot just be subtle reassurance.

Our answer is participation.

AI adoption should augment the work of Marylanders, improve job quality and services, and protect workers' dignity, safety, and right to organize. Augment, not replace.

And a person, never a system, is accountable for any consequential decision.

To protect workers and union voices in the AI economy, the Moore-Miller administration is taking action to ensure that workers are engaged in the process of technological transformation.

It starts with our own State workforce.

State workers will not face an AI-driven change to their work without a seat at the table.

We are convening a standing Labor-Management Committee with the unions that represent State employees.

That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is the standard we will hold others to.

Beyond State government, we committed $4 million this year to training and community Cyber and AI Clinics.

And Maryland is one of four founding states in RAISE US, helping workers transition to an AI economy.

We are strengthening protections for young people who use chatbots.

We are working with the Attorney General and other states to curb addictive design for kids under 16.

And any AI tool used in our schools will be held to a do-no-harm standard because keeping our kids safe means protecting them from exploitation and harm.

And finally, I am announcing today that, as Chair of the National Governors Association, I've created a bipartisan council of governors on AI alongside our Vice Chair, Governor Mike Braun.

We will make recommendations for a federal framework.

And we will lift up what Maryland is doing in that council.

More than 20 new governors will take office next year.

Our goal is to help them hit the ground running with proven policies.

Because in Maryland, people will stay in control of this technology.

In Maryland, workers and unions will have a voice in how it changes their jobs.

And in Maryland, our kids will be protected.

Maryland is choosing to lead and showing how to lead, because we are going to do it together.

Thank you.