Cities draw up AI policies as US federal laws lag behind

A global database of locally led "ethical" AI initiatives called the Atlas of Urban AI lists 184 projects in 66 cities, including in Dubai, Helsinki, Mexico City and elsewhere. These are scored in part on transparency, accountability, lack of discrimination and sustainability – the latter of which ranks poorest among the atlas's projects, said Alexandra Vidal, a researcher and project manager who helps lead the project at the Barcelona think-tank CIBOD. So far, such initiatives are found more in the Global North, said Marta Galceran Vercher, a research fellow at CIBOD, but she noted that cities such as Barcelona, where officials have passed an explicit mandate around ethical AI, offer significant models. "Cities are stepping out ahead of the national governments to say, 'We need to be more ambitious'," she said.