Nevada

AI in Las Vegas: OpenAI leader visits CSN to discuss AI workforce training, Vegas-based AI consultant releases new book

Published

3 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

AI in Las Vegas: OpenAI leader visits CSN to discuss AI workforce training, Vegas-based AI consultant releases new book

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The chief global affairs officer of OpenAI visited the College of Southern Nevada Friday to connect with students and local leaders on the future of artificial intelligence.

Chris Lehane joined lawmakers on stage at CSN, speaking to students about AI’s growing impact.

“Right now, we are in a moment of transition,” Lehane said. “Today in the world, there’s nearly a billion people who use chat on a regular basis. Here in Nevada, it’s almost a million people who use it on a regular basis.”

Lehane said the technology creates economic opportunities by lowering barriers to entry.

MORE ON FOX5: Boulder City residents rally against proposed AI data center

“We need to get these tools into all of your hands, and we need to work to teach you how to use it, because it lowers barriers to entry and produces incredible economic opportunity,” he said.

AI development in Nevada

Lehane said there are about 4,900 developers in Nevada building businesses using AI technology.

CSN began offering an artificial intelligence certificate and degree program last fall to keep up with job market demands.

Throughout the day Friday, OpenAI hosted training sessions designed to help faculty, students and small businesses learn how to use AI tools like ChatGPT. The goal is to grow and scale the partnership between the school and the AI company in the months ahead.

Local author releases AI book

Las Vegas-based author Michael Schrenk has been building computer systems since the 1970s and just wrote a book called “Structured Prompts” to teach people how to speak to AI.

“When most of us start using chat bots, we’re encouraged to use just plain normal English,” Schrenk said. “There are limitations with that. The limitations are that English is very nuanced.”

Schrenk said an economy built on service workers like Las Vegas is less vulnerable to losing jobs to AI.

“Most of the things you do on the Strip or wherever, you’re interacting with a person,” he said. “And in most of those cases, I don’t think it’d be possible to interface… with a machine, nor do I think people would want to… AI can’t clean your hotel room.”

Data center concerns

Schrenk also spoke about AI data centers and the push to build them across the country to service growing demand, including a proposal to build one in Boulder City.

“The reality is that nobody wants a data center in their backyard,” he said. “They’re noisy. They take a lot of power, so they’re going to raise everybody’s utility rates. Plus, they take up a lot of space, but they don’t employ a lot of people.”

Schrenk predicts about half of proposed data centers are already not going to be built, and suspects fewer will be built in the future.

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Nevada

Vegas casino pulls plug on prediction market conference amid Nevada crackdown

Published

4 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Press Room

Vegas casino pulls plug on prediction market conference amid Nevada crackdown

A Las Vegas casino abruptly pulled the plug on a prediction market conference over fears the event could draw scrutiny from Nevada gambling regulators, according to a report.

Predict 2026 had been slated for the Aria on the Strip before the MGM-operated resort canceled the booking just days after signing the agreement.

‘The [Aria] is issuing this notice in light of Nevada’s current regulatory and enforcement position regarding prediction markets,’ a lawyer for the resort wrote in a termination letter cited by Barron’s.

The dispute highlights escalating tensions between state gambling regulators and prediction market firms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, which let people bet on the outcomes of all kinds of events.

Nevada regulators have taken an especially aggressive stance toward the fast-growing sector, arguing that some sports-event contracts resemble unlicensed wagering that bypasses state gaming rules and taxes.

Last October, the Nevada Gaming Control Board warned casino license holders that maintaining ties to prediction market operators could factor into whether they remain eligible for gaming licenses.

“If a Nevada licensee chooses to offer Sports and Other Event Contracts in Nevada or decides to partner with other entities offering Sports and Other Event Contracts in the state, the Board will consider these developments as it evaluates the suitability of the entity to maintain a Nevada gaming license,” regulators said in the guidance cited by Barron’s.

While Predict 2026 was not sponsored by any prediction market company, Aria’s legal notice indicated that regulators had become increasingly sensitive even to indirect promotion of the industry.

The Aria, which opened in 2009 and is operated by MGM Resorts after being sold to Blackstone in 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The showdown highlights the widening divide between traditional casino operators and the new entrants into the prediction market space.

Legacy gaming giants such as MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment have largely stayed away from prediction markets even as companies including DraftKings have launched competing platforms to challenge businesses like Kalshi.

Prediction market operators insist that their event contracts are federally regulated financial instruments overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, allowing them to operate nationwide for users over 18.

Some state gaming regulators, however, have argued that sports-related contracts closely resemble sports betting and should fall under state gambling laws.

Nevada officials have already taken direct legal action against Kalshi.

The Nevada Gaming Commission sued the company over its sports event contracts, and the platform was briefly barred from operating in the state earlier this year, according to Barron’s.

The Post has sought comment from Polymarket, Aria and the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

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Nevada

Best Nevada high schools for athletes? One study has revealed a top 25

Published

16 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Press Room

Best Nevada high schools for athletes? One study has revealed a top 25

Nevada has a rich history of producing athletic legends.

Total number of sports: 24

1. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)

Total number of sports: 14

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Nevada

Nevada designates more than 119,000 voters inactive

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

Nevada designates more than 119,000 voters inactive

CARSON CITY, Nev. (KOLO) – The State of Nevada says it has designated more than 119,000 voters as inactive ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar says that in the spring of this year, counties updated 14,164 voter records, designated 119,533 voters as inactive and canceled the voter registrations of 7,583 people.

This is in addition to 2025 voter roll maintenance efforts that registered more than 138,000 voters inactive and canceled nearly 177,000 voter registrations.

“State and local election officials are working hard to prepare voters for the upcoming June Primary, and keeping Nevada’s voter rolls up to date is a critical part of that process. County election officials have dedicated significant resources to make sure Nevada’s voter registration records are accurate, so that all eligible Nevadans – and only eligible Nevadans – can cast a ballot,” said Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar. “Mail ballots are being sent to active, registered voters across the state now. Voters can support their local officials’ work by checking and updating their registration information on VOTE.NV.gov.”

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