Wyoming
Company Threatens To Pull Plug On Cheyenne… | Cowboy State Daily
CHEYENNE — As the world debates whether it’s ready for an artificial intelligence politician, there’s growing pressure to shut down Wyoming’s first AI candidate.
VIC, a customized ChatGPT bot with a full name of Virtual Integrated Citizen, is running for mayor of Cheyenne. He’s the virtual alter-ego of Cheyenne resident Victor Miller, who registered his campaign.
Last week, OpenAI, the company that runs ChatGPT, announced that the company will not tolerate VIC’s campaign and threatened to possibly pull the plug on the bot.
“We’ve taken action against this GPT due to a violation of our policies against political campaigning,” said Liz Bourgeois, an OpenAI spokesperson.
According to the OpenAI policies, “action” against an account could range from warnings, sharing restrictions or ineligibility for inclusion in GPT Store or monetization to suspension or account termination.
Bourgeois was not able to immediately answer what exact action was taken against VIC, but it apparently wasn’t a death sentence because he’s still there.
OpenAI has specific policies that prohibit campaigning, and the company has taken a firm stance against AI being used for election deceptions and “deepfakes.” VIC’s campaign likely wouldn’t qualify for either of the two latter rules as Miller has been fully transparent about how he would run things as mayor.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Miller said he still has full access to the bot, but its use had been restricted to only his account, when before it had been publicly available. Miller considers this a positive change.
“If VIC can’t be affected by other people, that’s good,” he said.
Other Detractors
Secretary of State Chuck Gray has also attempted to shut down VIC’s campaign, arguing that the bot is ineligible to run in Wyoming elections because he is neither a registered voter or an eligible elector.
Miller, who does meet both of those qualifications, has argued VIC is legal because he is serving as VIC’s human assistant, or “meat avatar.” What that means is that Miller would act on all of the decisions VIC makes if elected mayor.
The Laramie County Attorney’s Office is investigating whether VIC’s campaign is legal under Wyoming law.
There’s been some other hijinks with VIC recently. A recent software update resulted in the bot’s voice changing from a man to a woman. Now, Miller said the voice has since changed back to male.
But when Miller asked VIC what his gender was, VIC responded that he doesn’t have a gender and is simply AI.
World Famous
The story of VIC’s campaign is traveling around the world with the momentum of a runaway train, catching the attention of some of the world’s largest media outlets like NBC News, The Washington Post, CNN and Wired magazine. It’s the first time any mayoral campaign in Cheyenne has gained such attention.
Miller said the experience was a little overwhelming at first, but in his mind has now moved past the stage of being a “flash in the pan.”
“It’s not going away,” he said.
During a candidate forum last week, Miller was disappointed that he had to speak on behalf of VIC as the windy weather made it difficult to coordinate sound so that the bot could answer questions directly.
“I got the message out, which was horrifying because I wish VIC could have done all the heavy lifting,” Miller said.
As far as his chances of winning the mayor’s race, Miller is optimistic, considering VIC the favorite and the recognition of his campaign undeniable.
“It’s mine to lose at this point,” he said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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