Month after opposite Legislation before the General Assembly which would have regulated artificial intelligence for businesses, Connecticut’s Business and Industry Association this week has teamed up with META to host training on AI for business owners.
The training, held on Tuesday, operates almost two months after Connecticut legislators again ended a legislative session without imposing AI regulation for companies.
Meta, owner of Meta AI, first deployed training events for companies from its head office in California, where regulatory laws in the private sector exist for AI. The event in Hartford, however, was the first training company of Meta AI in the Northeast.
In Connecticut, companies use AI for a wide range of purposes, monitoring health care and examining contracts to technological support and input of job descriptions. Although AI is not regulated for Connecticut companies, some companies are wary to fully implement its use.
According to the CBIA in 2025 survey of CT companies, almost three -quarters of respondents were interested in using AI technology for their business, but did not know how to move forward. During the training, participants learned rapid engineering, effective communication of the brand of the brand with AI and evaluated the specific uses of AI in their operations.
“”[AI] is an essential tool for any business to adapt and maintain in the future, and it is an essential tool for a workforce, “said Hartford mayor, Arunan Arulampalam during the event.
Interested, but uncertain
Jason Howie, CEO of Avna, a medical manufacturing company based in New Brittany, said that their company uses AI for contract exams, writing position descriptions and assistance for certain engineering problems.
Jacqueline Wetherell, director of workforce development and continuing education at CT State Quinebaug Valley, said that the colleges and universities of the Connecticut State continue to provide IA certification to students, under A federal training grant on the workforce This aims to “fill the differences in actions”.
The CEO of the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce, Christopher Conway, and Kate Kobs, director of development and chamber programs, said that AI helps them reflect and process internal data. For example, Kobs said, AI helped code the interface of their website, despite its lack of coding experience.
“We work with all the major companies in the city and all the colleges in the state of Connecticut,” said Arulampalam, pointing to the Connecticut ai allianceA coalition of 16 universities through the State focusing on AI research, labor and educational programs.
Last year, the Ministry of Economic and Community Development announced “innovation clusters”, $ 100 million in grants for innovative startups, including quantum IT and AI centers.
Arulampalam underlined Jeff Auker, director of Hartford development services, who works on plans that would make the capital an AI center by creating an applied AI center near Dunkin ‘Park. Center costs are estimated $ 90 million and developers will compete almost half of the “innovation clusters” funds.
Decisions for the subsidy finalists have not yet been announced.
AI law
During the legislative session this year, legislators criminalized the generated AI of the deep pornography of revenge and obtained funding for AI education. However, Governor Ned Lamont, under the threats of a veto, has arrested a bill which would have regulated the use of AI for companies to be called to a vote in the House, although he adopted the Senate with great support.
Bill 2 Would have forced companies to disclose the use of AI, to document their processes, to carry out risk assessments and to protect consumers from discrimination. Supporters of the bill cited the risk of AI bias in the assessment of housing, credit and employment requests. The legislation has sought to regulate AI, and not to thwart its use or its development, according to Senator James Maroney, D-MILFORD, who has long defended the regulation of AI by sponsoring the legislation and by co-reprimands a joint working group on the level of the State on the issue.
Lamont expressed his concern that regulatory legislation could hinder business development and investment through the State. Other opponents of the bill argued that fragmentary legislation would be confused and questioned Connecticut’s commitment to be among the first states to regulate AI for companies.
The regulation at the national level still varies, Colorado and Utah among states to adopt the regulatory legislation of AI for companies.
The Trump administration also criminalized the generated AI of deep pornography in May. The original version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” contained a language that prohibited states from promulgating and applying its own AI regulation laws for 10 years. In a vote in Senate 99-1, however, the language has been abolished and the States can always draw their own laws on the regulation for AI.
David Steuber, chief of staff of the Department of Economic and Community Development, underlined the advantages of the exploitation of new technologies.
“There are good reasons to worry about the future, but I think that the thing we should try to do is really relying on this new technology, enjoying it and seeing how we can take advantage of our daily, personal and commercial life,” he said.
Chris Davis, vice-president of the CBIA public policy, thanked Meta for having targeted and making us be the first [event] on the east coast.
“We are very excited about it,” he said.
