Joined May 2026
Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act 417–3, sending the bill to the Senate. But while the bill gets the core principle right—large electricity users should pay the grid costs they create—it shouldn’t single out data centers. @techpolicymaven explains why the standard should apply to all large electricity users.👇 vist.ly/5ita3
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
Honored to be named a “Tech Titan” by Washingtonian Magazine this month. I’m proud to lead ITIF’s work advancing a pro-innovation agenda in Washington—and grateful to the team and colleagues who make that work possible. washingtonian.com/2026/09/08…
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
Government AI development should not sit in a legal gray area. Congress should distinguish lawful use of licensed models from fraudulent model extraction and require agencies to explain how their practices comply. Explore why clearer rules are needed👇 vist.ly/5gg6g
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Recent polling shows growing opposition to nearby data center development across both parties. Join us for @ITIFdc's Wed., 8/26, webinar to learn what recent polling reveals is underneath the opposition and implications for US AI policy and innovation. itif.org/events/2026/08/26/c…
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.@NIST's new AI Technology Evaluation program gives developers a more objective way to measure AI model performance. By testing models on blind datasets in a sequestered testbed, it reduces benchmark contamination and improves model comparisons. @techpolicymaven explains what that means—and why it matters👇
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
The Deterring American AI Model Theft Act shouldn't rely on companies' terms of service to define illegal conduct. Congress should instead target intentional account fraud and systematic model extraction to create a more durable, enforceable law. Read more👇 vist.ly/5c2v3
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
Adversarial AI distillation—extracting capabilities from frontier AI models to train competing systems—threatens U.S. AI leadership & national security. Congress is right to act, but the proposed Deterring American AI Model Theft Act of 2026 needs fixes before it becomes law...🧵
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This is not a binary choice. Open-weight models are important. We should protect them. Both closed models and open models play a role in democratizing technology and fueling innovation, responsibly.
Open-weight models are essential to a healthy AI ecosystem. Together with others across our industry, we are outlining a path for open-weight models to strengthen American competitiveness and expand economic opportunity, while protecting national security. microsoft.com/en-us/corporat…
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There's a lot of talk about adversarial distillation lately. In my latest blog post, I share 3 reasons why policymakers should pay attention.
.@AnthropicAI says fraudulent accounts generated 16M+ interactions to harvest @Claudeai outputs. @OpenAI testified @DeepSeek_ai employees bypassed safeguards to extract model outputs. These incidents put adversarial AI distillation squarely on policymakers' radar...🧵
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
. @CNN is suing @perplexity_ai over its use of news content, but this case raises different legal and policy questions than many AI copyright lawsuits. The key issue isn't just AI training—it's how AI search products use and deliver publisher content...🧵
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
2/ Unlike training-data cases, CNN alleges Perplexity reproduced its journalism in near-verbatim form through retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). If true, existing copyright, trademark, and consumer protection laws may already address the alleged harm.
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
3/ As @techpolicymaven explains in her latest, policymakers should pursue targeted enforcement—not broad AI restrictions. The goal: support voluntary licensing, local journalism, and continued innovation. Read the blog: datainnovation.org/2026/06/t…
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
The AI buildout is creating enormous demand for skilled trades, and the workforce pipeline needs to keep pace. This is a smart response: free training, industry-recognized credentials, and direct pathways to jobs supporting America's growing digital infrastructure.
Today we're announcing America's Workforce Academy (AWA), the largest private-sector commitment to the skilled trades in American history, beginning with a $115 million commitment in the first year alone. This cost-free program supports all participants while they learn and then guarantees a job for all graduates in high-demand fields such as electrical work, mechanical systems and plumbing. Every graduate will be guaranteed a job on a Meta construction site. Learn more: meta.com/AmericasWorkforceAc…
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The Great American AI Act seeks good governance but must get the details right for both people and country. It's a step forward. Check out my statement on what else is needed.
The Great American AI Act discussion draft is a step toward a coherent national AI framework. But Congress must get the details right—strengthening independent reviews, adopting dynamic compute thresholds, refining protections of people & preemption provisions, & expanding transparency requirements.
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📣 We're excited to welcome former Virginia Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado to the ITIF team as Associate Director of AI Policy! Michelle brings expertise in AI governance, data privacy, online safety, & emerging tech from government, law, & industry.
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Govts are at a critical phase in AI adoption. It contributes to everyday public sector work, so the question isn't whether to adopt AI, but how to do so effectively & responsibly. Public Sector AI Adoption Index 2026 looks @ the human side of that question tinyurl.com/AIAdoptionIndex
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
Today, @MicronCEO Sanjay Mehrotra hosted a special event at our Manassas, Virginia, fab to celebrate the start of 1α (1-alpha) DRAM manufacturing in the United States. We're grateful for all who participated, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce @howardlutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador @jamiesongreer, U.S. Senators @MarkWarner and @timkaine, Virginia Speaker of the House of Delegates @SpeakerDonScott, and other distinguished guests. Thank you to our teams, partners and the Manassas community who made this moment possible. #IntelligenceAccelerated #MemoryMadeInTheUSA #GoMicron
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Michelle Lopes Maldonado retweeted
False “Made in USA” claims are a real problem. President @realDonaldTrump's recent EO targets deceptive labeling—but its approach is flawed. Shifting liability to online marketplaces misdirects enforcement & risks higher costs & fewer products for consumers...🧵
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