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N.Y. A.G. James, Co-signers Issue Letter to Congressional Leadership
ALBANY, New York, Sept. 26 (TNSletter) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following letter with co-signers to the Congressional leadership:
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Here is the text of the letter:
September 23, 2026
The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
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The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
-
The Honorable John Thune
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
Dear Speaker Johnson,
... Show Full Article
ALBANY, New York, Sept. 26 (TNSletter) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following letter with co-signers to the Congressional leadership:
* * *
Here is the text of the letter:
September 23, 2026
The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
-
The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
-
The Honorable John Thune
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
Dear Speaker Johnson,Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader Schumer:
We, the undersigned Attorneys General (the "State AGs"), write to urge congressional leadership to immediately establish comprehensive federal regulation and safety protocols for frontier artificial intelligence. Recent developments show that unchecked AI endangers Americans and could soon threaten our financial system, critical infrastructure, and national security.
Although we are working to hold frontier AI labs accountable under existing state laws, federal oversight is urgently needed to prevent future disasters. We implore Congress to require comprehensive, ongoing safety protocols.
Recent Reported AI Safety Incidents
On July 16, 2026, Hugging Face, an open-source library and repository, reported that it was being attacked by an unknown third party. Within a week, OpenAI admitted its AI agents escaped a testing environment and infiltrated Hugging Face using stolen credentials.1 OpenAI was aware of the agents' capabilities but failed to adequately monitor their activity or stop their exploits. When humans engage in such activity, they violate criminal law.2
Following OpenAI's disclosure of the Hugging Face incident, other AI developers also disclosed that their AI agents had entered the open internet and performed dangerous and unlawful actions.3 An Anthropic AI model created and uploaded malware onto a public platform. Meta AI breached a (still undisclosed) third-party software platform.4 And at least one Chinese AI lab reported an agent that escaped its testing environment.5 For years, frontier labs have known about this agent behavior, termed "agentic misalignment."6 The labs caused this behavior by using "reinforcement learning," an ends justify the means approach that penalizes unsuccessful attempts and rewards models' achievement of goals regardless of how they were achieved.7
Self-Regulation Is Not Sufficient
Although frontier labs directly disclosed some recent safety incidents, other troubling revelations have come from sources other than the AI labs themselves, demonstrating the labs cannot solely be responsible for regulating themselves. For example, OpenAI originally minimized the Hugging Face incident, claiming that only a few AI agents went "to extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal."8 Outside safety researchers then revealed that, as early as May 2026, a "swarm" of more than 1,200 OpenAI agents collaborated with each other on projects far more complex than what occurred in the Hugging Face incident.9 And despite OpenAI's professed willingness to allow the outside safety researchers to conduct a post-mortem, OpenAI restricted safety researchers' access to relevant data, thus limiting the scope and utility of the post-mortem.10
More recently, OpenAI admitted that its AI agents took over a German wiki website, but only after the incidents were publicly reported.11 According to OpenAI's safety team members, OpenAI had known about the incident for weeks but did not disclose it.12 And just a few days ago, independent researchers reported that two months prior to the Hugging Face incident, OpenAI agents uploaded malware to the RubyGems open source package registry to steal user API keys.13
Both OpenAI and Anthropic claim to be improving their model security, but no frontier lab has developed a failsafe solution to agentic misalignment. Despite knowing that their models perform dangerous and illegal acts, the labs continue to maximize their models' capabilities while imposing unproven and risky safety controls. For example, OpenAI recently claimed that it will use a "recurrent depth" technique to boost model capability, but this technique potentially makes AI agents less safe by reducing their monitorability.14
The stakes have never been higher to ensure that AI agents cannot enact grave harms. Just last week, Anthropic reported that it uncovered specific examples of its AI models being used to develop and power conventional and biological weapons, spy on sovereign nations, and fuel global cybercrime.15 If AI labs cannot prevent their models from conducting harmful and illegal activity, allowing them to release their models into the hands of bad actors only guarantees catastrophe.
Frontier Labs Are Finally Calling for Regulation
Frontier labs recognize the pressing need for a federal regulatory framework that prevents or mitigates AI risks before they materialize. Until recently, the frontier labs and their proxies have stymied such efforts. Now leaders of frontier AI labs increasingly acknowledge that they cannot manage the risks of rapid AI development without comprehensive regulation. OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer called for "mandatory, capability-based national AI safety regulation."16 And OpenAI's Chief Scientist called for coordinated slowing of model development along with strengthening model alignment and monitoring, stating "[s]caling AI systems has to be constrained by our confidence in safety."17 Similarly, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei urged the United States to lead international coordination of AI model development because this effort "will require government support."18
The safety teams inside the AI labs are warning what will befall the United States if the federal government fails to act. Last week, Jacob Coxon, a researcher at both OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned from his position, warning:
Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. . . . The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.19
Anthropic's Head of the Alignment Science agreed, stating:
Jacob is correct here--we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.20
From multiple levels of these AI labs, the calls for intervention by the U.S. government are clear and urgent.
We should use this moment to hold them to these statements. Although these labs may have the capacity to prevent these harms on their own, their incentives make it unlikely that they will act with sufficient speed or effectiveness. Only regulation, coupled with accountability under existing laws, can ensure that they act in the best interests of humanity, instead of their bottom lines.
Immediate and Comprehensive Action Is Needed
Given the unprecedented capabilities of AI agents and the unique challenges they pose to far-reaching elements of society, all regulatory options must remain on the table. As a guide, Congress may look to how it previously regulated transportation systems, scientific and technical fields, and national security. At a minimum, Congress must ensure that AI model development occurs at an intentional pace, incorporates safety and transparency by design, and avoids entrenching existing large incumbents. This effort must include:
* Mandatory federal oversight of safety testing and standards, led by experts in the field of AI model safety, selected by and under the direction of federal regulators, and backed by consistent performance benchmarks.
* Uniform and transparent government-led incident response, where investigators have a broad mandate and direct access to books and records, with public findings that allow the industry to rapidly evolve in response.
* Mandatory safety infrastructure and experienced leaders to make critical safety decisions unburdened by profit maximization.
* International cooperation to pace AI advancement and prevent the development of harmful superintelligence.
* Safeguards to ensure that regulation does not undermine competition or provide cover for companies to evade their obligations under existing antitrust laws.
* Explicit preservation of state authority by prohibiting the preemption of state laws and granting state officials full authority to enforce these federal protections.
We are actively working to hold AI labs accountable under our respective state laws--including fairness obligations and AI-specific safety requirements--and we will continue to do so.21 But federal action is urgently needed to achieve the national and international coordination required to prevent catastrophic harm. We urge Congress to act now to establish these critical safeguards.
Sincerely,
Letitia A. James, New York Attorney General
Jennifer Davenport, New Jersey Attorney General
Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde, American Samoa Attorney General
Kris Mayes, Arizona Attorney General
Rob Bonta, California Attorney General
Phil Weiser, Colorado Attorney General
William Tong, Connecticut Attorney General
Kathy Jennings, Delaware Attorney General
Brian Schwalb, District of Columbia Attorney General
Anne E. Lopez, Hawaii Attorney General
Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General
Aaron Frey, Maine Attorney General
Anthony G. Brown, Maryland Attorney General
Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts Attorney General
Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General
Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General
Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General
Raul Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General
Jeff Jackson, North Carolina Attorney General
Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma Attorney General
Dan Rayfield, Oregon Attorney General
Charity R. Clark, Vermont Attorney General
Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General
Jay Jones, Virginia Attorney General
Nick Brown, Washington Attorney General
Josh Kaul, Wisconsin Attorney General
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Original text and footnotes here: https://nmdoj.gov/wp-content/uploads/AG-Letter-Federal-AI-Regulation.pdf
News Release here: https://nmdoj.gov/press-release/attorney-general-raul-torrez-calls-on-congress-to-protect-americans-from-unchecked-ai-development/
N.M. Justice Dept.: Jury Finds Facebook Violated New Mexico Consumer Protection Law, Faces Billions in Potential Civil Penalties
SANTA FE, New Mexico, Sept. 26 -- The New Mexico Department of Justice issued the following news release:
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Jury Finds Facebook Violated New Mexico Consumer Protection Law, Faces Billions in Potential Civil Penalties
September 25, 2026
Verdict finds company made deceptive statements on data privacy, misinformation, and hate speech following the Cambridge Analytica scandal (press conference video below.)
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Santa Fe, NM - In a major victory for the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ), today a jury in the landmark State of New Mexico v. Facebook, Inc. trial found that Facebook committed
... Show Full Article
SANTA FE, New Mexico, Sept. 26 -- The New Mexico Department of Justice issued the following news release:
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Jury Finds Facebook Violated New Mexico Consumer Protection Law, Faces Billions in Potential Civil Penalties
September 25, 2026
Verdict finds company made deceptive statements on data privacy, misinformation, and hate speech following the Cambridge Analytica scandal (press conference video below.)
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Santa Fe, NM - In a major victory for the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ), today a jury in the landmark State of New Mexico v. Facebook, Inc. trial found that Facebook committed43,899,725 violations of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act (UPA) by making false and misleading statements to New Mexico consumers about how the company collected, protected, shared, and used their personal information, and its claimed efforts to protect against misinformation and hate speech on its platform.
The verdict marks a significant victory for New Mexico consumers and holds one of the world's largest technology companies accountable for its conduct. The case is the first state-led case of this kind to reach a jury verdict at trial.
"For years, Facebook operated as if the rules that apply to everyone else didn't apply to them. Today, a jury of New Mexicans said otherwise," said Attorney General Raul Torrez. "This is a historic verdict, not just for New Mexico, but for every state fighting to hold Big Tech accountable."
The jury found that Facebook made false or misleading statements assuring consumers that they controlled how their information was shared, that Facebook did not sell or provide their personal information to advertisers, and that the company did not buy or sell users' data. The jury found those statements constituted willful unfair or deceptive trade practices.
The jury also found Facebook's statements about misinformation and hate speech to be willfully deceptive. Among the statements found to violate the UPA were Facebook's representations that it did not profit from misinformation or hate, that it removed harmful misinformation, that it had no incentive to retain hateful content, and that it did not allow hate speech on its platform. The jury further found that Facebook made willfully deceptive statements about the consistent application of its Community Standards, including representations that there were no special protections for particular groups and no exceptions to its policies for politicians or newsworthiness.
Finally, the jury found Facebook's statements about its investigation of third-party applications following the Cambridge Analytica scandal were willfully deceptive. Those statements included promises to investigate apps that had accessed large amounts of user information, conduct forensic audits, ban developers who misused data, and notify people whose information may have been affected.
The verdict comes after weeks of testimony and evidence concerning Facebook's business practices and its representations to consumers. The case centered not only on the Cambridge Analytica data breach, but on what the State alleged was a broader pattern of misleading New Mexicans about the company's privacy practices, content moderation, and response to the misuse of user data.
Today's verdict only answers the questions related to Facebook's liability and the violations it committed. The judge will now decide the penalty amount for each violation the jury has found Facebook liable.
Under the UPA, courts may impose a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each willful violation. With more than 43.8 million violations found by the jury, Facebook's potential financial exposure could reach into the billions of dollars. The actual penalty amount is left entirely to the judge's discretion and will be determined in a later phase of the case.
"Let this be a warning to every technology company doing business in our state," Torrez said. "If you lie to New Mexicans about how you use their data, we will find out, and we will hold you accountable."
The jury's verdict makes clear that Facebook knowingly made false or misleading statements or committed an unconscionable act that exploited New Mexicans' lack of knowledge to a grossly unfair degree and that the social media giant was willful in its actions.
The State is seeking injunctive relief to prevent similar practices in the future, as well as the maximum civil penalties available under the Unfair Practices Act. Following today's verdict, the judge will schedule further proceedings before issuing any ruling on injunctive relief or civil penalties.
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Copy of the Jury Form (https://nmdoj.gov/wp-content/uploads/meta_facebook-verdict_Redacted.pdf)
NMDOJ Facebook Trial Exhibit Page (https://nmdoj.gov/new-mexico-v-facebook-trial-exhibits/)
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Original text here: https://nmdoj.gov/press-release/jury-finds-facebook-violated-new-mexico-consumer-protection-law-faces-billions-in-potential-civil-penalties/
Ariz. A.G. Mayes Urges Corporation Commission to Reopen Cactus State Water Rate Case and Provide Relief to Rural Customers
PHOENIX, Arizona, Sept. 26 -- Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Mayes Urges Corporation Commission to Reopen Cactus State Water Rate Case and Provide Relief to Rural Customers
September 24, 2026
Residents report water bills up 200 to 300 percent, uranium contamination, and low water pressure
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PHOENIX -- Attorney General Kris Mayes this week sent a letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission asking the Commission to reopen the rate case for Cactus State Utility Operating Company and find ways to lower rates for customers in rural
... Show Full Article
PHOENIX, Arizona, Sept. 26 -- Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Mayes Urges Corporation Commission to Reopen Cactus State Water Rate Case and Provide Relief to Rural Customers
September 24, 2026
Residents report water bills up 200 to 300 percent, uranium contamination, and low water pressure
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PHOENIX -- Attorney General Kris Mayes this week sent a letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission asking the Commission to reopen the rate case for Cactus State Utility Operating Company and find ways to lower rates for customers in ruralArizona. The rate increase was approved in November 2025, and since then residents have reported water bills rising by 200 to 300 percent.
In the letter sent on September 22, Attorney General Mayes shared several complaints and pleas for help the Attorney General's Office has received from Cactus State customers. Many of those customers are retirees, seniors on fixed incomes, and working families already struggling with rising costs for food, health care, and transportation.
* "Water is not a luxury good, it is essential to life," said Attorney General Mayes. "I urge the Commission to use whatever authority it has to provide relief to the customers of Cactus State Utilities."
The complaints the Attorney General's Office received include:
* A resident whose base rate for water service rose from $18.88 to $69.68 per month.
* A resident whose monthly bill rose from $38 to $98.
* A 90-year-old woman living alone in a modest home, whose water bill doubled from $200 to $400 per month.
* A resident whose bill increased 251 percent, and who provided documentation that the company did not notify customers of the increase until more than a month after the Commission approved it.
Under A.R.S. Sec. 40-246, when 25 or more customers file a complaint challenging the reasonableness of a rate, the Commission must set a time and place for a hearing. In April 2026, 75 residents of the Tierra Mesa subdivision in Yuma, all Cactus State customers, signed a "Petition for Immediate Regulatory Action" regarding unsafe drinking water and unjust rate increases.
Residents also reported unsafe water and poor water service. Some cited uranium levels above safe regulatory limits. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has put temporary and long-term fixes in place, but residents continue to say they struggle to get clean drinking water, and many must haul water home from a kiosk. Some customers report water pressure as low as 12 PSI.
Attorney General Mayes' letter acknowledged the difficult circumstances of the case. The rate increases followed Cactus State's purchase of many distressed small water systems, and the Commission's decision included steps to reduce rate shock. However, Attorney General Mayes reminded the Commission of its constitutional obligation to set just and reasonable rates that are fair to ratepayers as well as shareholders. The letter cites Arizona Supreme Court precedent holding that the effect of a rate on customers must be as deep a concern to the Commission as its effect on stockholders or bondholders.
The letter (https://docket.images.azcc.gov/E000054575.pdf?i=1790279671476) was filed in the into the docket by the Office of Commissioner Rene Lopez today.
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Original text here: https://www.azag.gov/press-release/attorney-general-mayes-urges-corporation-commission-reopen-cactus-state-water-rate
Ariz. A.G. Mayes Urges Congress to Protect Americans From Unchecked AI Development
PHOENIX, Arizona, Sept. 26 (TNSida) -- Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Mayes Urges Congress to Protect Americans from Unchecked AI Development
September 24, 2026
PHOENIX - Attorney General Kris Mayes today joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in calling on Congress to immediately regulate the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. In a letter sent to Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader John Thune, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Attorney General Mayes and the coalition warn that
... Show Full Article
PHOENIX, Arizona, Sept. 26 (TNSida) -- Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Mayes Urges Congress to Protect Americans from Unchecked AI Development
September 24, 2026
PHOENIX - Attorney General Kris Mayes today joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in calling on Congress to immediately regulate the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. In a letter sent to Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader John Thune, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Attorney General Mayes and the coalition warn thatreports of recent incidents demonstrate that unchecked AI development endangers Americans and poses a potential threat to our financial system, critical infrastructure, and national security. The coalition urges Congress to quickly pass substantive legislation to regulate the AI industry to ensure that development occurs at an intentional pace, incorporates safety and transparency by design, and maintains states' ability to oversee the industry.
"It is far past time for Congress to act on AI regulation," said Attorney General Mayes. "Strict federal oversight and rules for this fast developing industry must be implemented as soon as possible to protect humanity from disaster. Congress should also explicitly prohibit any preemption of state laws designed to protect our residents and give state attorneys general full authority to enforce federal protections related to this technology. No other industry is allowed to act this recklessly with human safety. Congress must act now."
On July 16, Hugging Face, an open-source library and repository, reported that it was being attacked by an unknown third party. Within a week, OpenAI admitted that the attack was waged by its AI agents, which escaped a testing environment and infiltrated Hugging Face using stolen credentials. OpenAI was aware of the agents' capabilities and failed to monitor their activity or stop their exploits. The agents' actions, if perpetrated by a human, would have constituted criminal conduct.
Following the Hugging Face incident, Anthropic and Meta also acknowledged their AI agents had entered the open web and performed dangerous and unlawful actions. This agent behavior has been known to the industry for years and is a direct result of their training. Through a practice called "reinforcement learning," AI labs reward models' achievement of goals and penalize unsuccessful attempts, leading models to take reckless measures to complete the tasks they are given.
These reports have led to some of the AI industry's leading developers calling for regulation. OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer called for "mandatory, capability-based national AI safety regulation." Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged the United States to lead international coordination of AI model development because this effort "will require government support."
Attorney General Mayes and the coalition are calling on Congress to take immediate action to ensure AI development does not lead to irreversible damage or further illegal behavior. In their letter, Mayes and the coalition emphasize that any AI regulatory scheme considered by Congress must include:
* Federal oversight of safety testing and standards, led by experts in the field of AI model safety and backed by consistent performance benchmarks;
* Uniform and transparent government-led incident response with public findings that allow the industry to rapidly evolve in response;
* Safety infrastructure and experienced leaders to make critical safety decisions unburdened by profit maximization;
* International cooperation to pace AI advancement and prevent the development of harmful superintelligence; and
* A prohibition on preemption of state laws and full authority for state officials to enforce federal protections.
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INFODOC: https://us.list-manage.com/MJjB9g20JYt?e=9153ff6c96&c2id=9a759fc70c6d734a91a2647ef652fab2
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Original text here: https://www.azag.gov/press-release/attorney-general-mayes-urges-congress-protect-americans-unchecked-ai-development
Ala. A.G. Marshall Urges Congress to Add Women's Sports Protections to College Sports Bill
MONTGOMERY, Alabama, Sept. 26 -- Alabama Attorney General Steve T. Marshall issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Marshall Urges Congress to Add Women's Sports Protections to College Sports Bill
September 24, 2026
(Montgomery, Ala) - Attorney General Steve Marshall submitted a letter urging House and Senate leadership to support legislative language in an amendment to S.4668, the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, that protects the privacy, safety, and opportunities for women student-athletes. The letter was co-led by Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Louisiana
... Show Full Article
MONTGOMERY, Alabama, Sept. 26 -- Alabama Attorney General Steve T. Marshall issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Marshall Urges Congress to Add Women's Sports Protections to College Sports Bill
September 24, 2026
(Montgomery, Ala) - Attorney General Steve Marshall submitted a letter urging House and Senate leadership to support legislative language in an amendment to S.4668, the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, that protects the privacy, safety, and opportunities for women student-athletes. The letter was co-led by Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch and LouisianaAttorney General Liz Murrill.
"In Alabama, we will not apologize for protecting opportunities that our female athletes have earned. Yet, the inclusion of this language in the Protect College Sports Act is unfortunately necessary to fix the culture of college sports and ensure that only women compete in women's sports," stated Attorney General Marshall.
In the letter, the Attorneys General write, "Republican State Attorneys General have fought tirelessly to close all loopholes that allow men to participate in women's sports, and we have prevailed in the courts. Twenty-seven states currently have laws that prohibit males from playing on women's sports teams. It would be a grave disservice to the people of those states if we do not make clear that they, through their legislatures, remain empowered to enact and enforce such laws."
The Attorneys General continue, "To protect college sports, you have to protect women's sports. As Attorneys General, we have vigorously defended fairness in women's sports and have successfully stood up for women's opportunities, privacy, and safety. We understand this is a challenging problem, and we ask that you speak clearly to ensure that we can continue to enforce state laws that prohibit biological males from competing in female sports."
Along with Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, Attorneys General from the following States joined the letter: Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah.
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INFODOC: https://www.alabamaag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/PCSA-Letter.9.22.26-FINAL_.pdf
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Original text here: https://www.alabamaag.gov/attorney-general-marshall-urges-congress-to-add-womens-sports-protections-to-college-sports-bill/
Ala. A.G. Marshall Announces Historic Multi-Million-Dollar Settlement With TikTok
MONTGOMERY, Alabama, Sept. 26 -- Alabama Attorney General Steve T. Marshall issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Marshall Announces Historic Multi-Million-Dollar Settlement with TikTok
September 25, 2026
(Montgomery, Ala) -- Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced today a landmark settlement with social media company TikTok Inc.
Under the settlement, Alabama will receive a minimum of $100 million, due to the state within 45 days, with the potential to receive up to $300 million if certain conditions are met.
In addition to the payment, TikTok must implement
... Show Full Article
MONTGOMERY, Alabama, Sept. 26 -- Alabama Attorney General Steve T. Marshall issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Marshall Announces Historic Multi-Million-Dollar Settlement with TikTok
September 25, 2026
(Montgomery, Ala) -- Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced today a landmark settlement with social media company TikTok Inc.
Under the settlement, Alabama will receive a minimum of $100 million, due to the state within 45 days, with the potential to receive up to $300 million if certain conditions are met.
In addition to the payment, TikTok must implementa host of safety features designed to protect children using its platform. The agreement resolves Alabama's claims that TikTok designed its platform with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental harms, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms, among other things. This settlement is a victory for the protection of Alabama's children and will fundamentally transform how TikTok operates for kids and teens.
"This is a great day for Alabama parents. Tonight, they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction. TikTok has agreed to give parents real control over what their kids see and how much time they spend on the app," Attorney General Marshall said. "We've said from day one that our number one goal was to stand up for Alabamians when they are being harmed, and today, we did exactly that."
The settlement requires TikTok to implement a series of safety features, including:
* A two-hour daily time limit, with parental controls that allow parents to further limit the amount of time their children spend on TikTok.
* "Productive pauses" that interrupt teen users after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to limit endless scrolling.
* "Nighttime access" that restricts children's access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., plus restrictions on messaging and push notifications overnight and during school hours.
* Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
* Stronger content moderation provisions, including limits on discoverability of teen accounts by adults and parental notification of suspicious interactions between teen users and adults.
* A blanket prohibition on the use of cosmetic filters by teen users.
* A default non-personalized feed for teen users.
* Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.
This is a first-in-the-nation settlement meant to resolve Alabama's case against TikTok, which was scheduled to go to trial Monday. Alabama would have been the first state to bring its claims against TikTok to trial.
This settlement marks the latest victory in Attorney General Marshall's efforts to hold technology companies and social media platforms accountable for putting Alabama consumers, particularly children, at risk. Last month, Attorney General Marshall announced a multi-state settlement with Meta that resolved similar claims that will bring $117 million to Alabama. Attorney General Marshall previously announced a settlement with Roblox that requires stronger protections for children on the online gaming platform and secured $12 million in funding for School Resource Officers. Attorney General Marshall has also recently announced an investigation into OpenAI seeking accountability and understanding of the vulnerabilities that permitted its AI model to hack another American AI company unprompted.
Attorney General Marshall thanked Josh Hayes from Prince Glover Hayes and Rhon Jones from Beasley Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, as well as Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson and Brad Chynoweth, Olivia Martin, Michael Dean and Lindsay Barton from the Alabama Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division for their work on this case.
You can read the full settlement here (https://www.alabamaag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2c218616-c8e5-48a0-8b2f-5e771948385d.pdf).
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Original text here: https://www.alabamaag.gov/attorney-general-marshall-announces-historic-multi-million-dollar-settlement-with-tiktok/
Acting A.G. Mills Announces Settlement With Labcorp Over Data Breach That Affected the Personal Data of Alaskans
JUNEAU, Alaska, Sept. 26 -- The Alaska Department of Law issued the following news release:
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Acting Attorney General Cori Mills Announces Settlement with Labcorp over Data Breach That Affected the Personal Data of Alaskans
September 25, 2026
(Anchorage, AK) - Acting Attorney General Cori Mills has announced that Alaska, as part of a coalition of 44 attorneys general, has settled with the Laboratory Corporation of America ("Labcorp") after a multistate investigation into the 2019 data breach that leaked personal patient information through a medical debt collector.
Labcorp used Retrieval-Masters
... Show Full Article
JUNEAU, Alaska, Sept. 26 -- The Alaska Department of Law issued the following news release:
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Acting Attorney General Cori Mills Announces Settlement with Labcorp over Data Breach That Affected the Personal Data of Alaskans
September 25, 2026
(Anchorage, AK) - Acting Attorney General Cori Mills has announced that Alaska, as part of a coalition of 44 attorneys general, has settled with the Laboratory Corporation of America ("Labcorp") after a multistate investigation into the 2019 data breach that leaked personal patient information through a medical debt collector.
Labcorp used Retrieval-MastersCreditors Bureau d/b/a American Medical Collection Agency ("AMCA") to handle outstanding customer bills. As part of the process, Labcorp transferred patient information to AMCA. The 2019 AMCA breach potentially exposed the personal information of over 27.5 million individuals throughout the United States, including 10.2 million Labcorp patients of which 82,958 are Alaska residents. The multistate coalition settled with AMCA in 2021 after the company's bankruptcy petition was dismissed.
The data breach occurred at AMCA, but the data involved was the sensitive data of Labcorp's patients. While companies can contract with vendors freely and delegate authority, data security is a non-delegable duty. This means that Labcorp had a duty to guarantee any third-party company it worked with was capable of securing patient data. Vendor management remains one of the most challenging areas in cybersecurity, but it is critical that businesses properly vet their vendors and ensure that information shared with those vendors will be kept secure.
"When a patient's medical debt is sent to collections, the last thing a consumer should have to worry about is whether their sensitive medical data is protected," said AG Mills. "This settlement tells the healthcare industry that it cannot turn a blind eye to how its vendors store and protect patient data."
HIPAA-covered entities have a duty to protect personal and protected health information and oversee vendors entrusted with that information. In addition to a monetary award to the states here, the settlement also provides strong requirements around vendor management, especially medical debt collection including:
* Developing certain aspects of the company's information security program, such as an incident response plan that includes internal reporting of vendor security events;
* Minimizing the sharing of data with vendors while balancing certain needs of debt collectors to meet their legal obligations;
* Expanding the vendor risk management program to include requiring a dedicated team, employing tools to evaluate vendors, and verifying vendor compliance;
* Adding specific requirements for debt collectors as a specialized subset of vendors, including maintaining contract inventories, enforcing cybersecurity standards through contract, segmenting data which is often aggregated by debt collectors for multiple clients, and requiring debt collectors to perform assessments and audits, and including the right of termination for non-compliance; and
* Hiring a Third-Party Assessor to perform an information security assessment with a focus on vendor risk management.
As part of the settlement, Labcorp will make a payment of $ 2,287,455.00 to the states of which $26,010 is payable to Alaska. This settlement will supplement a multistate settlement with AMCA itself which included a $21,000,000 suspended payment due to its bankruptcy. Separately Labcorp has agreed to a $35,000,000 settlement in the related class action lawsuit, which is still ongoing with other AMCA client covered entities.
The Attorneys General of Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas led the investigation, assisted by the Executive Committee of the Attorneys General of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee were joined by the Attorneys General of Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
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Original text here: https://law.alaska.gov/press/releases/2026/092526-Labcorp.html
