Balancing AI Innovation, Regulation
When it comes to artificial intelligence, Connecticut is at a pivotal moment.
For companies of all sizes and industries, innovation and new technology are no longer future ideas—they are happening right now and reshaping the way the state does business.
“It really does feel that we are in a revolution,” CBIA vice president of public policy Chris Davis said to open the Feb. 24 Connecticut Technology Summit: The AI Revolution in Bristol.
The event brought together 150 business leaders, industry experts, and policymakers for important conversations on the state of AI for businesses and the future of Connecticut’s economy.
As Connecticut joins states across the country in discussing and debating policies surrounding AI, speakers at the event stressed the need to embrace innovation, not stifle it.
“If Connecticut wants to remain competitive, we need to create an environment that welcomes this type of innovation,” Davis said.
Embracing Innovation
Michael Richards, executive director of policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Engagement Center, pointed to history as a guide.
“When the internet came of age,” he said, “The United States took a light‑touch approach.”
He said that allowed U.S. companies to innovate and thrive.
“Europe decided to regulate through that process and tried to regulate as the innovation was happening and really stifle that innovation,” he said.
Richards cautioned that the same mistake could be repeated with AI.
“It’s an option whether we want to lead in innovation or not,” he said.
“But we have to actually believe in that approach and showcase it through our policies.”
AI Policy
Speaking during a panel discussion on the future direction of AI policy and regulation in Connecticut, Yale Ventures managing director Josh Geballe noted the promise that the technology holds.
“Much of what we’re seeing happen with regards to AI is just moving so fast and has so much promise to solve or help address many of the biggest challenges we’re facing in society,” he said.
That speed, he cautioned, makes it important for policymakers to balance regulation with supporting innovation.
“It is so hard to build a startup company, especially when you’re competing against some of these major hyperscalers,” Geballe said.
“We should be very, very careful about doing things that makes that work even harder.”
Geballe was joined by state Sen. James Maroney (D-Milford), Future of Privacy Forum senior director for U.S. Legislation Tatiana Rice, and Amazon’s Wyatt Bosworth.
Targeted Regulation
Maroney, whose work on tech legislation has drawn national attention, noted that lawmakers are moving away from sweeping frameworks and toward addressing specific risks.
“We’re really moving more from the broader frameworks,” Maroney said.
“I think what you’re going to see more of this year is targeted, industry specific.”
He pointed to efforts to address things like harmful chatbots.
Geballe said it’s important that regulation focuses on outcomes and harms, not the technology itself.
“We don’t want discrimination in employment decisions, regardless of what technology you’re using for it—if it’s an AI tool or if it’s a human,” he said.
“Focusing on what is the harm we’re concerned about makes a lot of sense.”
Supporting Small Business
Maroney added that his goal for creating policy is to provide safeguards and clarity for businesses.
“The true benefit for Connecticut is going to be in the adoption of AI and seeing it deployed more broadly to help all of our businesses be more efficient, to help smaller businesses compete and be on an equal footing with bigger businesses,” he said.
Nationally, policymakers are also debating how to approach AI without slowing adoption.
State legislatures across the country introduced about 1,200 AI‑related bills last year, with another 800 already introduced nationally so far this year.
Rice described the challenge as navigating a complex state‑federal environment.
“We have a very specific system of federalism, right states versus the federal government,” she said, noting that the fragmented approach has created “a little bit of confusion” for businesses trying to understand how AI laws apply.
Federal Framework
She cautioned against framing the debate as an all‑or‑nothing choice.
“It’s not no regulation or regulation,” she said. “It’s application of existing law or a standalone AI law.”
Richards noted that if a fragmented state-by-state approach to regulation continues, it could potentially be “very problematic for small businesses.”
“We’ve actually seen that they said that they would actually forego adoption of AI tools and technology because of specific regulations from other states,” he said.
He said a federal framework would give businesses the clarity and understanding of what the rules and regulations are.
Urgency and Opportunity
Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Dan O’Keefe said Connecticut is seeing momentum that creates both urgency and opportunity when it comes to AI.
“Technology as a horizontal is becoming increasingly more important for us,” he said.
O’Keefe pointed to the role technology is playing in industries like advanced manufacturing, defense, finance, insurance, and healthcare.
He said that needs to shape how the state thinks about innovation policy.
“How does AI, how does quantum, how do these broad, horizontals impact our core industries?” he said.
“And how can we make sure that Connecticut is a place where that impact happens here, rather than elsewhere?”
Getting It Right
There was broad agreement that preparing Connecticut’s workforce is central to getting the balance right.
O’Keefe noted that as technology advances, there will be an “economic dislocation.”
“How can we make sure that Connecticut is a place where that impact happens here?”
DECD’s Dan O’Keefe
“That has happened every time we’ve seen what I call a foundational innovation—the printing press, the steam engine, the telephone, the internet,” he said.
But he said he’s confident the state will emerge stronger.
“We always figure out a way to take advantage of these tools, and then we see a step function change in our economy because of it,” he said.
The 2026 Connecticut Technology Summit: The AI Revolution was a collaboration between CBIA and the Department of Economic and Community Development’s Office of Innovation and made possible through the generous support of Hinckley Allen, with additional support from Google, Amazon, Charles IT, and CoopSys.
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