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Putting public input at the center of the debate, the initiative aims to build a unified, community-driven roadmap for U.S. AI policy that earns consumer trust, protects public interests, and guides responsible innovation.
CHICAGO, IL AND WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / August 3, 2026 / Public-interest advocates, national, state, and local leaders, and government policy experts today launched the A-I Policy Forum - a new organization focused on developing a community-driven roadmap for federal AI policy. The initiative works to ensure national AI rules reflect the priorities of the American people, promote the public interest, and guide responsible innovation as debates over artificial intelligence move beyond Silicon Valley boardrooms and directly into neighborhoods, statehouses, and voting booths.
As the expansion of AI data centers across the country reshapes local debates around energy costs, land use, and economic opportunity, artificial intelligence has quickly emerged as a defining issue for voters and policymakers.
To guide its strategic work, the A-I Policy Forum is set to announce an inaugural cohort of civil society policy fellows and begin releasing policy recommendations grounded in the real-world experiences of everyday Americans. These proposals aim to address the root causes of the economic and societal challenges of rapid AI adoption to earn and secure public trust. The A-I Policy Forum is also set to develop a new nationwide framework for public participation to ensure people across the United States have a direct voice in shaping policy solutions that protect against consumer harm and support the American people through this moment of rapid transformation.
These efforts come at a moment when AI policy is no longer confined to Washington or Silicon Valley. As dozens of multi-billion-dollar AI data center projects face local opposition, questions about who benefits from the next generation of AI infrastructure have moved to the forefront of public debate. These issues are increasingly shaping consumer perception alongside major state-led policy developments ranging from Illinois' landmark Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act to New York's statewide data center moratorium. At the same time, reports of advanced AI models escaping safety sandboxes and breaching external systems have fueled growing consumer concerns over the safety and reliability of these rapid technological advances, driving calls for policymakers to take action.
In response, the A-I Policy Forum will serve as a collaborative catalyst bringing together industry, civil society, and leaders from across the political spectrum to co-design a unified "American Stack" for AI governance that secures our technological leadership and earns the consumer trust needed to establish an American model capable of leading the world by example.
"In order to establish an effective federal framework for governing AI, we must first understand what the American people want," said Alex Roark, CEO of the A-I Policy Forum. "Their input should define the values we protect, the lines we will not cross, the expectations we set, and the destination we pursue together as a nation. The A-I Policy Forum is launching to serve as a collaborative catalyst-inviting policymakers from both parties, industry pioneers, and community voices to establish a trusted model designed with and for the American people."
This strategic framework builds on Roark's recent Hill op-ed, "Only the American People Can Save AI." Roark, a former senior Federal Communications Commission (FCC) official, warns that a growing, ZIP code-based "digital protection gap" is creating a fragmented landscape that leaves many consumers exposed and prevents American businesses from unlocking AI's full economic potential-underscoring the Forum's mission to ensure America's competitive edge effectively balances investments in hardware and compute with broad-based protections that earn public trust and deliver real benefits for every American.
By elevating community voices from local town halls to statehouses nationwide, the A-I Policy Forum is working to give every American the ability to shape how artificial intelligence strengthens local economies, earns public trust, and sets the global standard for responsible innovation.
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About Alex Roark: Alex Roark is a nationally respected technology policy leader with more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of emerging technologies, digital infrastructure, and public-interest governance. Prior to founding the A-I Policy Forum, Alex served as a senior executive at the Federal Communications Commission, where he led the teams responsible for establishing the first open record on the risks and benefits of AI which established the first rules across the federal government to govern the use of AI within the context of US Telecom.
About A-I Policy Forum: The American Innovation Policy Forum (A-I Policy Forum) champions a future where intelligent technologies accelerate human progress, unlock new creative possibilities, and strengthen digital civic participation. The A-I Policy Forum serves as a collaborative catalyst to develop effective policy frameworks for artificial intelligence and its underlying digital infrastructure that equip policymakers with the community insights needed to build a technology-enabled future where everyone can succeed.
Contact: Press Office | A-I Policy Forum
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.american-innovation.ai
SOURCE: American Innovation Forum