Think Tanks
Here's a look at documents from think tanks
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Ifo Institute: Material Shortages Slow Down Industrial Production and Push Up Consumer Prices in Germany
MUNICH, Germany, June 12 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release on June 11, 2026:
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Material Shortages Slow Down Industrial Production and Push Up Consumer Prices in Germany
The shortage of materials has a negative impact on industrial production and raises prices in the long term. That's shown by recent study by the ifo Institute. According to the study, unexpected material shortages lead to a short-term decline in industrial production of 2.4%.
"Unexpected supply chain disruptions can exert considerable pressure on companies and the economy. Consumers feel the effects for
... Show Full Article
MUNICH, Germany, June 12 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release on June 11, 2026:
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Material Shortages Slow Down Industrial Production and Push Up Consumer Prices in Germany
The shortage of materials has a negative impact on industrial production and raises prices in the long term. That's shown by recent study by the ifo Institute. According to the study, unexpected material shortages lead to a short-term decline in industrial production of 2.4%.
"Unexpected supply chain disruptions can exert considerable pressure on companies and the economy. Consumers feel the effects fora particularly long time, as prices continue to rise even years after the shortage," says ifo researcher Lara Zarges. The decline in production is particularly severe in the automotive industry. The strongest price effects can be observed in the wood and pharmaceutical industry.
When it comes to production, increasing material shortages immediately slow it down, but it only gradually returns to its previous level once materials become available. "Short-term easing in material availability is therefore not enough to offset production losses," says ifo researcher Friederike Fourne. Two years after a negative shock, industrial production overall remains 0.5% below the level that would have been reached in a scenario without a material shortage shock.
Producer and commodity prices reach their peak increase about a year after the shock, at around 0.3 % (producer prices) and 0.6% (commodity prices). The impact of the material shock can be felt for the longest time in consumer prices. Even two years after the material shortages, consumer prices rise by about 0.1 percentage points per quarter.
The authors use the monthly ifo business surveys in the manufacturing sector covering the period from 2002 to mid-2025, with between 2,000 and 5,000 companies completing the survey each month. The study focuses solely on unexpected and short-term shocks due to material shortages. The impact of these shocks was examined with regard to industrial production, the producer price index, the commodity price index, and the consumer price index.
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Publication
2026 Article in Journal
Materialengpasse als makrookonomische Schocks: Evidenz aus den ifo Konjunkturumfragen
Friederike Fourne, Lara Zarges
ifo Schnelldienst, 2026, 79, Nr. 5 33-36
Learn more (https://www.ifo.de/en/publications/2026/article-journal/materialengpasse-als-makrookonomische-schocks)
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Original text here: https://www.ifo.de/en/press-release/2026-06-11/material-shortages-slow-down-industrial-production-and-push-consumer
[Category: ThinkTank]
Ifo Institute: First Companies in Germany View Artificial Intelligence as an Alternative to Qualifications and Professional Experience
MUNICH, Germany, June 12 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release:
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First Companies in Germany View Artificial Intelligence as an Alternative to Qualifications and Professional Experience
Almost 20% of companies in Germany already using artificial intelligence (AI) consider it easy or very easy to replace workers with (technical) degrees. To do that, they would rely on a worker without a degree who is supported by AI. Furthermore, for around 15% of these companies, it is easy to very easy to replace an experienced worker with an inexperienced one who uses AI.
"AI is transforming
... Show Full Article
MUNICH, Germany, June 12 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release:
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First Companies in Germany View Artificial Intelligence as an Alternative to Qualifications and Professional Experience
Almost 20% of companies in Germany already using artificial intelligence (AI) consider it easy or very easy to replace workers with (technical) degrees. To do that, they would rely on a worker without a degree who is supported by AI. Furthermore, for around 15% of these companies, it is easy to very easy to replace an experienced worker with an inexperienced one who uses AI.
"AI is transformingthe world of work and, in some areas, can even partially replace formal qualifications and experience," says ifo researcher Anna Ruffert. To date, 54.5% of companies state that they are using AI in their business processes.
The highest figures are found in trade, where 28.6% report that AI could easily or very easily replace (technical) university degrees, followed by service providers (19.7%), manufacturing (14.6%), and construction (9.3%). The results are virtually identical across all company sizes.
This effect is somewhat less pronounced when it comes to professional experience. In trade, 22.9% of companies can easily or very easily replace professional experience with AI-assisted, inexperienced workers. Among service providers, this figure stands at 14.5%, followed by manufacturing (12.6%), and construction (7.7%). "Professional experience is apparently somewhat harder for companies to compensate for with AI than formal degrees," says Ruffert.
By contrast, more than half of the companies (55.4%) that use AI still consider it difficult or impossible to replace a worker with a (technical) university degree with AI-supported, less qualified staff. When an experienced worker is replaced by an inexperienced one who uses AI, this figure rises to as high as 62.7%.
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More Information
Survey (https://www.ifo.de/en/facts/2026-06-12/first-companies-germany-view-artificial-intelligence-alternative-qualifications)
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Original text here: https://www.ifo.de/en/press-release/2026-06-12/first-companies-germany-view-artificial-intelligence-alternative
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: MN Teacher Prep Programs Better Aligned to Science of Reading But Full Picture More Complicated
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 12 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 11, 2026, by policy fellow Catrin Wigfall:
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MN teacher prep programs better aligned to science of reading but full picture more complicated
A new analysis by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) gave 93 percent of 15 elementary teacher preparation programs in Minnesota an "A" or "A+" for adequately covering the five core components of scientifically based reading instruction. This is a
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 12 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 11, 2026, by policy fellow Catrin Wigfall:
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MN teacher prep programs better aligned to science of reading but full picture more complicated
A new analysis by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) gave 93 percent of 15 elementary teacher preparation programs in Minnesota an "A" or "A+" for adequately covering the five core components of scientifically based reading instruction. This is adramatic improvement from 2023, when only 14 percent met that bar. But a look at the state's own data suggests there is still significant ground to cover to ensure teachers are properly trained in evidence-based reading strategies to then instruct students.
Minnesota overhauled its approach to reading instruction in 2023 through the READ Act, which requires teacher preparation programs to instruct teacher candidates in evidence-based reading instruction. The law also directed the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) to audit whether approved programs were actually delivering on that mandate. That three-year cycle audit, released in January 2025 and covering activity from January 2023 through June 2025, gives us a little more complicated story than NCTQ's analysis.
What NCTQ found
To complete its analysis, NCTQ convened reading experts (researchers, teacher educators, and experienced elementary educators) to review textbooks and other materials used by teacher preparation programs in their required reading coursework, looking for evidence of alignment with scientifically based reading instruction. The five components of such instruction include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension and have been identified by a growing body of research as the most effective foundation for teaching students to read.
Southwest Minnesota State University earned the top designation ("A+") for exceeding NCTQ's threshold across all five components without teaching any reading strategies contrary to the science of reading. Thirteen other programs also earned an A+ or A, including Concordia University St. Paul, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, St. Cloud State University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Minnesota-Morris, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of St. Thomas, Winona State University, Minnesota State University-Mankato, Metropolitan State University, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, and Bemidji State University.
[View chart in the link at bottom.]
Room to grow
Despite this important progress in the number of Minnesota teacher prep programs providing scientifically based reading instruction, not all preparation programs have fully eliminated disproven reading practices.
While no analyzed program was found to be directly teaching the three-cueing method -- the READ Act defines evidence-based practices in a way that excludes three-cueing -- several programs showed evidence of related approaches.
Balanced literacy models, running records, and reader's workshop appeared in University of Minnesota-Crookston's coursework. Leveled texts surfaced at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University and Minnesota State University-Mankato. Winona State University's curriculum included leveled texts and assessments like the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), Informal Reading Inventories (IRI), and Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) that rely on guessing over decoding. Bemidji State University has coursework using miscue analysis.
Eliminating these practices will not only benefit students and teachers but districts as well. As NCTQ notes, when teacher prep programs spend time on disproven methods, school districts absorb the cost of retraining teachers who arrive without the skills they need to teach reading.
PELSB's audit
The NCTQ analysis covered 15 elementary teacher preparation programs. Minnesota has 39 approved elementary teacher preparation programs. Using the state's audit data, as of January 2025, only 17 of those 39 had passed the reading audit by demonstrating full alignment to reading requirements. The state report also audited PELSB-approved early childhood, special education, and reading programs. Of 14 approved early childhood programs, only three had passed the reading audit. Of 10 approved reading licensure programs -- the specialists used for intervention -- only one had passed. Most (62 out of 77) special education programs passed.
Combined, 11 programs are currently on probationary approval with reading standards marked "not met." Another 46 are on continuing approval with interim reports required to address reading deficiencies.
This isn't a reason to discount the NCTQ findings, as the progress identified is real and important. Plus, NCTQ was analyzing the 15 elementary programs using a curriculum-content lens, whereas the audit compared the 39 elementary programs against a broader compliance framework. But it does mean the 93 percent figure from NCTQ is one view of the system, not the whole.
The stakes remain high
Approximately 18,168 more fourth-grade students in Minnesota would be skilled readers each year if they received effective reading instruction, according to NCTQ's calculations. Using the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data, an estimated 24,407 current fourth graders are still struggling with foundational reading skills. As measured by Minnesota's spring 2025 reading assessment, less than half (46.1 percent) of fourth graders met grade-level proficiency, a figure that has declined since at least 2022.
Students "not reading at grade level by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school, increasing their risk of lower lifetime earnings, higher unemployment, and involvement with the criminal justice system," cites NCTQ.
What policymakers should do
With the READ Act, Minnesota has solid infrastructure to build on. The three-year statewide audit that began in 2023 is exactly the kind of baseline-setting review that NCTQ recommends. Policymakers should ensure that work is completed, and that programs still flagged for deficiencies are held to clear timelines for compliance.
Policymakers could also consider expanding the list of named harmful practices to include other disproven approaches: balanced literacy models, leveled texts, miscue analysis. A program still teaching these methods shouldn't pass its review. Policymakers should also make sure programs are preparing teacher candidates to teach English learners and struggling readers, gaps NCTQ found even in programs earning top marks.
With intentional follow-through of what is already on the books, and future policy reform consideration, Minnesota could finally get back on track for measurable and meaningful reading improvements.
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Catrin Wigfall is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment.
catrin.wigfall@americanexperiment.org
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Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/mn-teacher-prep-programs-better-aligned-to-science-of-reading-but-full-picture-more-complicated/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: Germany's Nuclear Energy Regrets
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 12 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 10, 2026, by policy fellow Darren Nelson:
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Germany's nuclear energy regrets
"Don't follow Germany on energy policy." That was American Experiment's most recent of many, many warnings over the years to Minnesotans, about copying the German move towards 100 percent renewable or clean power. Germany by 2035. Minnesota by 2040.
That is the bad news. The worse news is that Germany effectively banned
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 12 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 10, 2026, by policy fellow Darren Nelson:
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Germany's nuclear energy regrets
"Don't follow Germany on energy policy." That was American Experiment's most recent of many, many warnings over the years to Minnesotans, about copying the German move towards 100 percent renewable or clean power. Germany by 2035. Minnesota by 2040.
That is the bad news. The worse news is that Germany effectively bannedthe cleanest of electricity generation sources. Clean from a CO2 perspective. That being nuclear. All existing plants.
The good news, compared to Germany, is that Minnesota has only banned the building of new nuclear power plants. The better news is that this ban will be revisited, as part of a state government-funded study, to be completed by the Great Plains Institute on January 30, 2027.
Hopefully, this study will take heed of Germany's recent nuclear energy regrets, as set out below, especially as former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura once warned:
"Learn from history or you're doomed to repeat it."
Context
"It was a serious strategic mistake to exit nuclear energy," admitted Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of Germany, on January 15 of this year. He added that: "We set ourselves a goal that we now have to correct, but we simply don't have enough energy generation capacity."
"We're now making the most expensive energy transition in the entire world," said Chancellor Merz. "I don't know of a second country that makes it as difficult and as expensive for itself as Germany does." The last three of Germany's nuclear reactors were shut down in April 2023.
Merz's long-ruling Christian Democratic Union first decided to phase out nuclear energy in 1998, reversed it in 2009, and then aggressively reinstituted it in 2011 in the wake of Fukushima. Four reactors were closed between 1998 and 2009, and a whopping fifteen since 2011.
Policies
The worldview that drove this, according to the World Nuclear Association, is Energiewende. That being the transition of electricity generation, from mostly fossil fuels and nuclear, to so-called renewables. Clean Energy Wire documents the timeline from 1973 to 2020.
Notable Energiewende milestones from the 20th century were: (1973) anti-nuclear movement born with the slogan of "Atomkraft? Nein danke!"; (1979) Green Party founded to replace nuclear with renewables; (1986) Chernobyl disaster and Der Spiegel's cover story on global warming.
Key Energiewende milestones from the 21st century were: (2000) Renewable Energy Act passed and "nuclear consensus" reached to phase out by 2022; (2010) "nuclear consensus" reversed; (2011) "nuclear consensus" restored; (2018) Coal Exit Path; and (2019) Climate Action Law passed.
Consequences
The first chart shows the declines in the electricity generation source ratios of both fossil fuels and nuclear as well as the rise of renewables. The nuclear ratio is significantly reduced from 30% in 1996 to 20% in 2010. It then falls to 10% in 2021 and collapses to 0% in 2023.
[View chart in the link at bottom.]
The second chart tracks electricity generation in total output as well as for nuclear, fossil fuels and renewables. Renewables overtake nuclear from 2012 and dramatically diverge in opposite directions onwards. Total electricity supply has consistently been in decline since 2017.
[View chart in the link at bottom.]
The third chart demonstrates how prices are driven by marginal costs not total costs. Relatively cheaper nuclear, compared to renewables, declines every year from 2006 to 2023, 104.5 to 4.5, thus inflating electricity Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) from 129 to 303.
[View chart in the link at bottom.]
The fourth chart illustrates electricity pulling up all HICP in the 21st century. The former goes from 100 in 2000 to 303 in 2023, with the latter going from 105 to 167. Electricity, as an input into everything, fuels cost-push inflation, just as currency inflates demand-pull.
[View chart in the link at bottom.]
Economics
Mainstream static economics teaches that taxpayer subsidies, such as to German renewables, will increase supply and lower prices. It also teaches that rising input costs, say in such renewables, will decrease supply and escalate prices. Dynamic incentives are the missing link.
Free market economics, like in Murray Rothbard's Power and Market, argue that subsidies will cause both effects, of increasing supply and rising input costs. But the latter effect will tend to overpower the former. Thus, prices will tend to be high and rising as time goes by.
The reasons for this are: 1.) inefficient businesses are the ones who are incentivized to seek subsidies or rent seek; 2.) these subsidies incentivize such businesses to stay inefficient or worsen; 3.) more resources are diverted into #1, leading to more #2. Rinse and repeat.
Coda
President Trump issued four executive orders in 2025, aimed at jump-starting American nuclear energy. In summary, these "focus primarily on rapid deployment of advanced nuclear reactors while also providing support and further study for other parts of the fuel cycle."
Robert Bradley, in Nuclear Power: A Free Market Approach, notes: "The past is a sunk cost. Currently operating nuclear plants can be presumed to be economical. Regarding new capacity, [they] have not demonstrated their economic viability versus other forms of thermal generation."
Germany should have properly applied the precautionary principle and not shut down nuclear. And, although free markets are better than government fiat, some second-best policy choices are better than others. Thus, new or old nuclear should be built or rebuilt, for as Julian Simon once wrote:
"Nuclear power is fundamental to a discussion of energy because it establishes the long-run ceiling to energy costs. No matter how much any other source of energy costs us, we can turn to nuclear power at any time to supply virtually all our energy needs for a very long time."
"The opposition to it is mainly ideological and political. ... The aim of [which] is not increasing the availability of energy and consumer benefits, but decreasing the use of energy for supposed environmental gains and beliefs about the morality of simple living."
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Darren Nelson is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment.
darren.nelson@americanexperiment.org
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Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/germanys-nuclear-energy-regrets/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: Coming to a Classroom Near You - Removing Geography, Adding Colonialism
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 12 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 11, 2026, by policy fellow Catrin Wigfall:
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Coming to a Classroom Near You: Removing geography, adding colonialism
New social studies standards are coming to all Minnesota K-12 public schools this fall. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, the revised standards and benchmarks reflect a "shift away from standards that list a set of content students are expected to know" to conceptual
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 12 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 11, 2026, by policy fellow Catrin Wigfall:
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Coming to a Classroom Near You: Removing geography, adding colonialism
New social studies standards are coming to all Minnesota K-12 public schools this fall. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, the revised standards and benchmarks reflect a "shift away from standards that list a set of content students are expected to know" to conceptuallearning and narratives.
The biggest structural change in the 2021 standards is the addition of an entirely new fifth strand: ethnic studies. The three anchor standards in this new strand require students to: analyze "the ways power and language construct the social identities of race, religion, geography, ethnicity, and gender" and "apply these understandings to one's own social identities and other groups living in Minnesota, centering those whose stories and histories have been marginalized, erased, or ignored"; describe how individuals and communities have fought for "liberation against systemic and coordinated exercises of power" and "organize with others to engage in" such activities; and "understand the roots of contemporary systems of oppression" and "apply lessons from the past that could eliminate historical and contemporary injustices."
Within these standards, and those for history, geography, economics, and citizenship and government, are K-12 grade-level benchmarks that represent the specific knowledge and/or skill a student must master. Since the benchmarks don't go through an external approval process, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) writes whatever content it wants and then distributes it to schools to teach.
For example, kindergarteners, five year olds, will have to "retell a story about an unfair experience that conveys a power imbalance." Under the old benchmarks, kindergartners described "symbols, songs and traditions that identify our nation and state" such as the American flag, bald eagle, Pledge of Allegiance, and Minnesota state flag. This has been changed to students' identifying a "symbol, song, pledge or tradition that is important" to them. First graders -- six year olds -- will have to "identify examples of ethnicity, equality, liberation and systems of power" and use those examples to "construct meanings for those terms."
Under new geography standards, places and regions must be understood through "how they are influenced by power structures." Gone is the benchmark that required fourth-grade students to "name and locate countries neighboring the United States" -- like Canada and Mexico -- and their major cities.
U.S. history standards that once spelled out many of the events and time periods that anchor students' understanding have been replaced with broad concepts focused on "dominant and non-dominant narratives."
As an example, here is one of the old history standards:
"The economic growth, cultural innovation and political apathy of the 1920s ended in the Great Depression which spurred new forms of government intervention and renewed labor activities, followed by World War II and an economic resurgence. (The Great Depression and World War II: 1920-1945)"
Here is one of the new history standards:
"Context, Change, and Continuity: Ask historical questions about context, change and continuity in order to identify and analyze dominant and non-dominant narratives about the past."
The old standard identifies a specific time period and specific events for students to study. The replacement standard focuses on "dominant and non-dominant narratives." That framework imposes a single interpretive lens before students have built the factual knowledge needed to evaluate competing interpretations in the first place.
The consequences of removing that factual foundation are visible in national data. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, 40 percent of 8th graders are below the basic benchmark in U.S. history, and scores have been dropping consecutively since 2014. Only six percent of students could identify two ideas from the Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence that Martin Luther King, Jr. might have been referring to in his "I Have a Dream" speech and then explain why King might have cited those ideas. Less than half could correctly identify a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
Students need anchors -- dates, names, places, and events -- that help them make sense of the past. Conceptual frameworks, when divorced from specific facts, risk leaving students susceptible to the idea that history is merely a collection of competing narratives rather than a record of things that actually happened.
In this new edition of "Coming to a Classroom Near You," American Experiment takes a closer look at what is being added -- and removed -- from students' social studies education and raises real questions about whether Minnesota students will be better prepared academically and civically or whether they will simply be better trained to view the world through a particular ideological lens. It is worth four minutes of your time before school starts this fall.
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School board members, you have the responsibility and authority to select curricula to teach these standards and benchmarks. Here are balanced, constructive options without the political framing. You should also insist that any new curriculum adoption go through a full board review process -- not just administrative approval. Ask for a comparison of curricula alternatives. Ask what the state standards actually require.
Parents have a role to play too. Ask your child's school what curriculum they plan to use for the new standards this fall. Remember, under Minnesota Statute 120B.20, you have the right to review these instructional materials, opt your child out of them, and request alternative instruction. Most parents don't know that.
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Catrin Wigfall is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment.
catrin.wigfall@americanexperiment.org
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Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/coming-to-a-classroom-near-you-removing-geography-adding-colonialism/
[Category: ThinkTank]
America First Policy Institute: For Title IX Month, Riley Gaines Reflects on the Opportunities That Built Women's Sports
WASHINGTON, June 12 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following statement on June 11, 2026:
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For Title IX Month, Riley Gaines Reflects on the Opportunities That Built Women's Sports
In honor of Title IX Month, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today released the following statement from Riley Gaines, Vice Chair of Athletes for America, on the importance of Title IX and opportunity in women's sports:
"People sometimes think Title IX is about trophies and scholarships. It is about so much more. Sports teach a young girl who she is. She learns discipline when the alarm
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 12 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following statement on June 11, 2026:
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For Title IX Month, Riley Gaines Reflects on the Opportunities That Built Women's Sports
In honor of Title IX Month, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today released the following statement from Riley Gaines, Vice Chair of Athletes for America, on the importance of Title IX and opportunity in women's sports:
"People sometimes think Title IX is about trophies and scholarships. It is about so much more. Sports teach a young girl who she is. She learns discipline when the alarmgoes off before sunrise, resilience when she loses a race she trained months for, and confidence when she finally touches the wall first.
She learns to lead, to be coachable, and to carry herself with grace in victory and defeat. Those lessons follow her into every classroom, every job, and every challenge for the rest of her life. I have lived the opportunities this law created, and I want every young woman to have that same chance.
Every girl deserves a fair shot to find out what she is capable of through the love of sports. I was given that chance, and through our work at Athletes for America, I will spend my life making sure the next generation of girls gets it too."
Learn more about AFPI's Athletes for America here (https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/initiative/athletes-for-america-coalition).
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Original text here: https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/for-title-ix-month-riley-gaines-reflects-on-the-opportunities-that-built-womens-sports
[Category: ThinkTank]
America First Policy Institute: FLOTUS's Leadership is Advancing AI for America's Children
WASHINGTON, June 12 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release on June 11, 2026:
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FLOTUS's Leadership is Advancing AI for America's Children
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) commends First Lady Melania Trump for her leadership in fostering the responsible use of artificial intelligence to empower America's next generation. By honoring the student winners of the Presidential AI Challenge, the First Lady is championing innovation which will empower the next generation of Americans to explore and innovate in this rapidly evolving field.
AFPI's America
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 12 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release on June 11, 2026:
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FLOTUS's Leadership is Advancing AI for America's Children
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) commends First Lady Melania Trump for her leadership in fostering the responsible use of artificial intelligence to empower America's next generation. By honoring the student winners of the Presidential AI Challenge, the First Lady is championing innovation which will empower the next generation of Americans to explore and innovate in this rapidly evolving field.
AFPI's AmericaFirst AI Agenda, released in November 2025, emphasizes the importance of guiding AI development in ways that protect children, enhance learning outcomes, and promote human flourishing over unchecked technological risks.
"We thank First Lady Melania Trump for her vision in promoting AI as a force for good," said Joel Thayer, senior fellow for AI and Emerging Technology at AFPI.
"By encouraging American children to develop and apply AI solutions to real-world challenges at a young age, she is advancing child safety through innovation that builds skills, protects dignity, and ensures technology serves American families rather than exploiting them or leaving them behind."
AFPI will continue its work to advance policies that accelerate American AI leadership while upholding the highest standards of child protection, parental rights, and dominance. Read more of the AI and Emerging Technology team's work here (https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/policy-areas/ai-and-emerging-technology).
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Original text here: https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/flotuss-leadership-is-advancing-ai-for-americas-children
[Category: ThinkTank]
