What happened
On 1 October 2026, Maryland Governor Wes Moore — chair of the National Governors Association — announced he is forming a bipartisan group of governors (with NGA co-chair, Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun) to develop an AI regulatory framework, explicitly criticising the White House's voluntary 'Super Intelligence' accord and noting that governors in Maryland, California, Illinois, Oregon and Virginia have already issued executive orders on AI standards. The initiative is early-stage (no charter, member list, or formal proposal) and framed partly as recommendations for a federal framework.
Why it matters
This is a heads-of-government signalling development relevant to the trajectory of US AI regulation: state-level executive action (procurement standards, kill-switch mandates, AG investigations) is filling the perceived federal void, creating a fragmented multi-state compliance landscape for AI deployers.
Action needed
AI deployers should monitor the governors' group's evolving framework and track the already-active state executive orders (California, Illinois, Oregon, Virginia, Maryland) for emerging state-specific AI procurement and safety compliance obligations.