California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced a new initiative – dubbed the California Breakthrough Project – which aims to bring together leaders from the state’s top tech companies to make government operations more efficient.

In its fourth attempt to get answers, Democratic lawmakers are once again pressing officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for explanations on how the agency is supporting state and local election offices ahead of the 2026 midterm election cycle.

The California State University at Los Angeles said on July 9 that it secured funding for two faculty-led artificial intelligence projects through the California State University’s (CSU) Artificial Intelligence Educational Innovations Challenge (AIEIC).

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that K-12 education systems around the United States – particularly some of those in rural areas – are facing significant challenges in fully realizing the benefits of Federal government funding for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

The state of Missouri is investing $3 million in a new small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) science and development program at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. 

The integration of artificial intelligence into classrooms and the economy is getting a $4 billion boost in cash and technology services commitments from tech giant Microsoft which has unveiled two new initiatives to accelerate the “AI race.” 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on July 11 launching a pilot program that uses agentic artificial intelligence to help reduce regulatory burdens and keep state guidance documents up to date.

North Dakota’s IT department announced on July 8 that it has appointed Chris Gergen as the state’s new chief information security officer (CISO).

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced on July 10 that the state is awarding a total of $750,000 to eight Kentucky-based tech companies as part of the state’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) matching funds program.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has fully deployed an artificial intelligence-powered traffic signal software system across more than 2,500 intersections statewide.