Governor Wes Moore unveiled a sweeping framework Tuesday aimed at regulating artificial intelligence across Maryland while shielding workers, children, and consumers from its risks. The plan calls for safety testing, independent audits, whistleblower protections, and incident reporting requirements for advanced AI companies operating in the state, alongside proposed restrictions on algorithmic rent-setting.
According to WMAR-2 News, the Moore administration wants to give Marylanders greater control over how their likeness is used and to address potential AI discrimination in housing and employment. The framework also calls for greater employee and union involvement whenever AI is introduced into workplaces, along with additional worker training and programs to help employees adapt to the technology. Some of these proposals, the station reports, will require action from the Maryland General Assembly before they can take effect.
Maryland's Earlier AI Governance
Tuesday's rollout is not Maryland's first move on AI governance. In January 2024, Moore signed Executive Order 01.01.2024.02, creating a state AI Subcabinet, according to UMBC.
Maryland has also been an active adopter of AI tools inside its own government. In November 2025, the state launched a public partnership with Anthropic and tech firm Percepta to weave the Claude AI model into agency operations, including environmental site assessments, housing permitting, and customer assistance for benefits, per StateScoop. Earlier this month, on September 3, Moore also announced Maryland Community Compass, a state-funded AI portal giving developers and entrepreneurs instant, address-level analysis of zoning rules, environmental flags, and state grant opportunities, according to CBS News Baltimore. The station reported the tool was designed to help small community developers avoid costly private feasibility studies.
A Deepfake Case That Shaped the Push for Child Safeguards
Part of the new framework calls for stronger protections for children using AI chatbots and social media, along with new standards for AI tools used in Maryland schools. That push follows a high-profile local incident: in January 2025, an athletic director at Pikesville High School in Baltimore County used AI tools to clone a principal's voice and fabricate a racist audio clip. The recording went viral and temporarily disrupted school operations before experts concluded it was AI-generated, and the athletic director accepted an Alford plea and was sentenced to four months in jail in April 2025, as reported by AP News.
Rent Algorithms and Workplace AI Already Under Scrutiny
The administration's push to restrict algorithmic rent-setting fits into a broader national enforcement trend. In November 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice reached a proposed antitrust settlement with software provider RealPage barring the use of nonpublic competitor data in rental pricing algorithms, a case that federal regulators said allowed property managers to pool landlord data and artificially inflate apartment rents, according to ProPublica. State-level efforts to prohibit algorithmic rent-setting have also emerged.
A signed waiver is required for facial-template creation, per The National Law Review. The framework also proposes worker protections, including union involvement and training programs for employees affected by workplace AI adoption.
Data Center Backlash and the Energy Question
The push for AI oversight arrives as Maryland communities push back against the physical infrastructure that powers these systems. More than 60 environmental and community organizations petitioned Maryland leaders this month for a statewide moratorium on new data center construction, according to Inside Climate News.
Moore is not backing away from state action.
For now, Maryland is moving ahead with its own AI safeguards even as federal regulations on the technology remain limited. Some proposals will require action from the Maryland General Assembly.
