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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association are each sending $1 million to support Gina Hinojosa's challenge to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, according to The New York Times. The infusion is significant for Hinojosa, whose campaign had only about $4 million on hand at the end of last month. The move follows pressure from prominent Latino Democrats, including Rep. Joaquin Castro, who pushed the DGA to treat the race as competitive.

Hinojosa's bid has been somewhat overshadowed by Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, who has raised more than $70 million against Republican Ken Paxton and is seen as a national fundraising star. Democrats haven't won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, and the governor's mansion has been held by Republicans since Ann Richards left office in 1995. Castro argued that winning the governor's race is the only way to stop Texas Republicans from attempting another congressional redistricting before 2028, telling the Times, "Gina is right there."

New York political leaders are calling on the federal government to act quickly on artificial intelligence oversight, following warnings from AI lab CEOs about potential risks from unchecked development. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called recent AI warnings "incredibly alarming" and said the city would explore protective measures, while Gov. Kathy Hochul urged Washington to set national standards prioritizing public safety over the race to build more powerful AI systems. President Trump has dismissed such concerns as a "hoax" and opposes new regulation, citing competition with China.

New York City and State have already taken steps, including the RAISE Act, a one-year data center moratorium, and a ban on AI chatbots for young students, but a state comptroller audit and a city public advocate report both found more oversight is needed. The debate has also become a flashpoint in competitive congressional races, with data center policy emerging as an attack line, and Assemblymember Alex Bores launching a multimillion-dollar push to unify Democrats around AI regulation.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a package of 13 California bills tightening rules for social media platforms and AI companion chatbots to protect minors online. One law requires social media companies to either remove "addictive" features like infinite scroll and autoplay for users under 16 or bar those users entirely, a measure critics including the Electronic Frontier Foundation warn could amount to a de facto ban for teens. Another centerpiece, Adam's Law — named for a California teen whose parents sued OpenAI after his death — imposes time limits for minors, mandates built-in mental health resources and crisis protocols, requires parental notification if a chatbot detects self-harm risk, and opens companies to legal liability for failing to act. OpenAI has voiced support for the measure.

Additional bills impose a four-year moratorium on AI chatbot toys for under-16s, expand platform liability for harm to children, revise age-verification rules, and broaden child sexual abuse material reporting to cover AI-generated content. The package follows Meta's roughly $17 billion settlement with state attorneys general over allegations it knowingly fostered addictive, harmful platform features for teens.