Lawmakers across the country are rushing in the wake of the Supreme Court’s seismic Louisiana v. Callais ruling to maximize redistricting efforts that could reshape the electoral landscape ahead of November’s midterms. By weakening the laws that gave minority voters an “opportunity to control their own fate” when drawing electoral districts, the court has “escalated the nationwide redistricting war” and pushed both parties to abandon “decades of tradition” for an “edge over the competition,” said The Associated Press. The ruling and the electoral scramble it prompted is the “latest example” of the “American democratic experiment” being “pushed to the breaking point in the decade since Donald Trump rose to power.” 

The court’s decision “nullified some of the Democratic resistance” that prevented blue states from “pursuing extreme gerrymanders this election cycle,” said Axios. In the past, Democrats have made “opposition to gerrymandering” a “party platform,” said CNBC. But the party also “repeatedly raised alarms” about Republican election meddling and “opted to try to negate GOP redistricting efforts, even if some will be too slow for this year’s midterms.” 

Some Republican states have “rushed to dilute majority-Black districts before November’s midterm elections,” said The New York Times. This comes after the White House “pressured” southern Republicans to “create more Republican House seats” before the midterms to “hold off political headwinds and retain control” of the House. The ruling “amplified an already intense national redistricting battle,” said “PBS NewsHour,” and has offered red states “new grounds to redraw voting districts.” 

The Trump administration is pivoting away from its hands-off stance regarding artificial intelligence development and is now looking to impose federal regulations on the burgeoning industry, said The New York Times. After giving Silicon Valley “free rein to roll out the technology,” the White House is “considering the introduction of government oversight over new AI models” and has discussed an “executive order to create an AI working group” to “examine potential oversight procedures.“ 

Renewed interest in AI regulation is a “sharp ​reversal” for Trump, said Reuters. His previous approach to AI has been largely to “maintain the American edge over China in the critical technology.”

Internal White House discussions around Anthropic’s powerful Mythos AI model “forced the Trump administration to recalibrate aspects of its laissez-faire approach to AI oversight,” said The Wall Street Journal. The administration had previously “unwound Biden administration efforts to implement safety standards” and worked to “ease constraints tech companies face in rolling out new models.” 

As AI models “grow more powerful and potentially risky,” officials increasingly “want to understand their security implications” before allowing commercial sales, “even in a Trump administration focused on accelerating AI innovation,” said Axios. The new process being discussed by the White House “may be similar to one under development in the U.K,” said Forbes. There, “several government agencies” were asked to “review safety standards” for the emerging technology. 

Experts say Congressional action is needed