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Want to opt out of AI? State labeling laws might help

Published

4 months ago

October 29, 2025

Want to opt out of AI? State labeling laws might help

Red STOP AI protest flyer with meeting details taped to a light pole on a city street in San Francisco, California on May 20, 2025.

Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

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Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Utah and California have passed laws requiring entities to disclose when they use AI. More states are considering similar legislation. Proponents say labels make it easier for people who don’t like AI to opt out of using it.

“They just want to be able to know,” says Utah Department of Commerce executive director Margaret Woolley Busse, who is implementing new state laws requiring state-regulated businesses to disclose when they use AI with their customers.

“If that person wants to know if it’s human or not, they can ask. And the chatbot has to say.”

California passed a similar law regarding chatbots back in 2019. This year it expanded disclosure rules, requiring police departments to specify when they use AI products to help write incident reports.

“I think AI in general and police AI in specific really thrives in the shadows, and is most successful when people don’t know that it’s being used,” says Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which supported the new law. “I think labeling and transparency is really the first step.”

As an example, Guariglia points to San Francisco, which now requires all city departments to report publicly how and when they use AI.

Such localized regulations are the kind of thing the Trump Administration has tried to head off. White House “AI Czar” David Sacks has referred to a “state regulatory frenzy that is damaging the startup ecosystem.”

Daniel Castro, with the industry-supported think tank Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, says AI transparency can be good for markets and democracy, but it may also slow innovation.

“You can think of an electrician that wants to use AI to help communicate with his or her customers … to answer queries about when they’re available,” Castro says. If companies have to disclose the use of AI, he says, “maybe that turns off the customers and they don’t really want to use it anymore.”

For Kara Quinn, a homeschool teacher in Bremerton, Wash., slowing down the spread of AI seems appealing.

“Part of the issue, I think, is not just the thing itself; it’s how quickly our lives have changed,” she says. “There may be things that I would buy into if there were a lot more time for development and implementation.”

At the moment, she’s changing email addresses because her longtime provider recently started summarizing the contents of her messages with AI.

“Who decided that I don’t get to read what another human being wrote? Who decides that this summary is actually what I’m going to think of their email?” Quinn says. “I value my ability to think. I don’t want to outsource it.”

Quinn’s attitude to AI caught the attention of her sister-in-law, Ann-Elise Quinn, a supply chain analyst who lives in Washington, D.C. She’s been holding “salons” for friends and acquaintances who want to discuss the implications of AI, and Kara Quinn’s objections to the technology inspired the theme of a recent session.

“How do we opt out if we want to?” she asks. “Or maybe [people] don’t want to opt out, but they want to be consulted, at the very least.”

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US says Kuwait accidentally shot down 3 American jets

Published

31 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

US says Kuwait accidentally shot down 3 American jets

The U.S. and Israel have been conducting strikes against targets in Iran since Saturday morning, with the aim of toppling Tehran’s clerical regime. Iran has fired back, with retaliatory assaults featuring missiles and drones targeting several Gulf countries and American bases in the Middle East.

“All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation,” Central Command said.

“The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available,” it added.

In a separate statement later Monday, Central Command said that American forces had been killed during combat since the strikes began.

“As of 7:30 am ET, March 2, four U.S. service members have been killed in action. The fourth service member, who was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries,” it said.

Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing. The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification,” Central Command added.

This story has been updated.

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Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

Published

13 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

Smoke rises over Konarak naval base in southern Iran on Sunday. The base was one of hundreds of targets of U.S. and Israeli forces throughout the country.

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Commercial satellite images are providing a unique look at the extent of damage being done to Iran’s military facilities across the country.

The U.S. and Israeli military campaign opened with a daytime attack that struck Iranian leadership in central Tehran. Smoke was still visible rising from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound following the attack that killed the supreme leader.

An image by the company Airbus taken on Saturday shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Iran’s Leadership House in central Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of attacks.

Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026

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Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026

Israel and the U.S. have gone on to strike targets across the country. Reports on social media indicate that there have been numerous military bases and compounds attacked all over Iran, and Iran has responded with attacks throughout the Middle East.

U.S. forces have also been striking at Iran’s navy. In a post on his social media platform, President Trump said that he had been briefed that U.S. forces had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels. U.S. Central Command did not immediately confirm that number but it did say it had struck an Iranian warship in port.

An image captured on February 28 shows a ship burning at Iran's naval base at Konarak.

An image captured on Saturday shows a ship burning at Iran’s naval base at Konarak.

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Numerous satellite images show burning vessels at Konarak naval base in southern Iran. Images also show damage to a nearby airbase where hardened hangers were struck by precision munitions.

Hardened aircraft shelters at Konarak airbase were struck with precision munitions.

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And there was extensive damage at a drone base in the same area. Iran has launched numerous drones and missiles toward Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Many drones have been intercepted but videos on social media show that some have evaded air defenses and caused damage in nearby Gulf countries. In Dubai, debris from an Iranian drone damaged the iconic Burj Al Arab, according to a statement from Dubai’s government.

Buildings at an Iranian drone base at Konarak were destroyed in the strikes.

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Iran’s most powerful weapons are its long-range missiles. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have hidden the missiles deep inside mountain tunnels. Images taken Sunday in the mountains of northern Iran indicate that some of those tunnels were hit in a wave of strikes.

Following Khamenei’s death, Iran declared 40 days of mourning. Satellite images showed mourners gathering in Tehran’s Enghelab square on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told NPR on Sunday that Iran will continue to fight “foreign aggression, foreign domination.”

A White House official told NPR that Trump plans to talk to Iran’s interim leadership “eventually,” but that for now, U.S. operations continue in the region “unabated.”

A large crowd of mourners fill Enghelab Square in Tehran on Sunday, following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

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Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

Published

22 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

new video loaded: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

The first battle of the midterm elections will be the U.S. Senate primary in Texas. Our Texas bureau chief, David Goodman, explains why Democrats and Republicans across the U.S. are watching closely to see what happens in the state.

By J. David Goodman, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, June Kim and Luke Piotrowski

March 1, 2026