23 states urge Congress to regulate AI, warn of risks to national security and infrastructure
ChatGPT opened on a computer screen is displayed on Sept. 24, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Nearly two dozen states are calling on Congress to regulate artificial intelligence, warning that unchecked development could put Americans and the country at risk.
The attorneys general of 23 states, along with the District of Columbia and American Samoa, signed a letter to congressional leaders Thursday demanding “comprehensive federal regulation and safety protocols” for AI.
“Recent developments show that unchecked AI endangers Americans and could soon threaten our financial system, critical infrastructure, and national security,” the letter said. “Although we are working to hold frontier AI labs accountable under existing state laws, federal oversight is urgently needed to prevent future disasters.”
The attorneys general cited recent incidents involving AI, including reports involving Hugging Face, as evidence of what they described as the risks of AI systems operating beyond their intended safeguards.
The states called for federal oversight of AI model safety testing, international cooperation to pace AI advancement and leaders empowered to make safer decisions “unburdened by profit maximization,” according to the letter.
“In recent weeks, alarming reports of AI agents breaking containment have shocked the nation,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said. “My colleagues and I are calling on Congress to act swiftly to establish a regulatory framework for AI development to ensure this does not continue.”
The letter comes as states and the federal government continue to debate how AI should be regulated, including the appropriate balance between federal oversight and state authority.
In addition to New York, the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin signed the letter, along with the District of Columbia and American Samoa.
Claiborne County Deputy Terrian Bailey is seen in an undated photo. (Claiborne County Sheriff's Office)
(NEW YORK) — A dozen people have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a Mississippi sheriff’s deputy, authorities announced on Friday.
All 12 suspects have also been charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of Claiborne County Deputy Terrian Bailey, according to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
Bailey was attempting to disperse a large crowd at a convenience store in Hermanville shortly after midnight on Sept. 7 when shots were fired toward the crowd, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. He was struck and later died at a hospital, authorities said. A female bystander was also shot, suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
“Today’s arrests reflect the determination and collaboration of law enforcement at every level to pursue justice for Deputy Bailey, his family and the community he served,” Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said in a statement.
The 12 suspects range in age from 18 to 26. The department did not release any additional details on the case, including any alleged shooters.
Their arrests involved multiple agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service.
Bailey served with the Claiborne Sheriff’s Office for six years and is survived by his wife and children.
Claiborne County Sheriff Edward Goods Sr. thanked “every investigator, agent, officer, deputy, dispatcher, and individual who has worked tirelessly on this case.”
“We also thank the citizens who have provided information, videos, tips, prayers, and support,” he said in a statement. “Your cooperation continues to be important.”
The FBI offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information related to the case, Mississippi authorities said.
The investigation remains ongoing, authorities said.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Three women are dead in a double murder-suicide in a South Philadelphia home, police said.
Janice Picano, 67, is believed to have shot Angelina Picano, 18, and Denise Grottini, 55, before turning the gun on herself on Monday, according to a preliminary investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department.
Officers responded to a report of a person with a gun at around 5:30 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived on the scene, they found three women shot, police said.
All three women were pronounced dead shortly after 5:30 p.m., police said.
The investigation into the incident remains active and ongoing.
Danette Colbert is shown in this undated booking photo. | Ricky White is shown in this undated booking photo. (Kenner Police Department | Broward County Sheriff's Office)
(NEW YORK) — A Louisiana woman was found guilty in the death of a Telemundo Kansas City reporter covering the 2025 Super Bowl who prosecutors said was the victim of a criminal enterprise that targeted men in New Orleans by drugging and stealing from them.
Danette Colbert was found guilty of negligent homicide in the death of 27-year-old Adan Manzano, a reporter for KGKC Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports, who was found dead in his hotel room in Kenner on Feb. 5, 2025, days before Super Bowl LIX.
Colbert, 49, and her co-defendant, Rickey White, 35, were also both found guilty of racketeering.
Prosecutors said Colbert posed as a prostitute and plied her marks with alcohol or drugs to render them unconscious and then stole their phones, credit cards, cash, jewelry and other valuables. White served as her pimp, providing “instruction” and helping them access and distribute the stolen property, prosecutors said.
Manzano was their last known victim, prosecutors said. He died from the combined effects of Xanax — an anti-anxiety medication — and alcohol along with “positional asphyxia,” according to the Jefferson Parish coroner. Police found him face-down on his hotel bed after colleagues requested a wellness check, according to prosecutors, who said the drug and alcohol in his system rendered him unconscious and unable to move.
Colbert was the last person seen with Manzano, prosecutors said. Video evidence showed her with him in the French Quarter before entering his hotel room, where she made “numerous videos of herself” in which she practiced opening Manzano’s cell phone and tried to log into his bank accounts on his phone “while he lay dying or dead,” prosecutors said.
The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated for over five hours before returning with their verdicts on Thursday.
Both defendants had been charged with manslaughter. The jury found Colbert guilty of the lesser charge of negligent homicide and White not guilty of manslaughter.
The investigation into Manzano’s death “yielded tens of thousands of text messages, images and videos that showed how Colbert, White and others had engaged in a criminal enterprise in which they targeted men,” prosecutors said in a press release.
Other victims of the yearslong scheme testified during the trial, including a man who said he lost $100,000 after encountering Colbert.
A third person charged in the criminal enterprise, Christian Dean Anderson, also testified against the two about the workings of the scheme after entering into a plea agreement with prosecutors. Anderson, 35, pleaded guilty to simple robbery and access device fraud and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Colbert and White are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 28. They face up to 50 years in prison on the racketeering charge. The negligent homicide charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Jefferson Parish Assistant District Attorney Jenny Voss said she believes the verdicts delivered justice to the family of Manzano, a widower who was the father of a young child.
“We knew that this was a difficult case going in with a lot of complicated law, and we really feel like they took all of that into consideration, and justice was served,” Voss told reporters following the verdict.
Stavros Panagoulopoulos, Colbert’s defense attorney, said that he believed this was a “compromise verdict.”
“One thing to consider is the fact that negligent homicide’s a far cry from manslaughter,” he told reporters. “Not only that, given the nature of the questions that were given during the course of deliberations, suspicion is that this was most likely a compromise verdict.”
The Kenner Police Department, which conducted the death investigation along with other agencies, said the verdicts “provide a measure of justice and closure to the family of Adan Manzano and to the victims and families affected by the criminal activity uncovered during this investigation.”
