TLDR: North Carolina Governor Josh Stein has issued Executive Order No. 24, establishing an Artificial Intelligence Leadership Council and an AI Accelerator within the Department of Information Technology. This initiative aims to responsibly integrate AI solutions across state agencies to enhance efficiency, improve public services, and prepare the workforce for technological advancements, while also addressing potential risks and ethical considerations.
RALEIGH, NC – Governor Josh Stein has set North Carolina on a path to become a national leader in artificial intelligence (AI) integration, signing Executive Order No. 24 on September 2, 2025. The order, titled ‘Advancing Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence That Benefits All North Carolinians,’ underscores the state’s commitment to leveraging AI for transformative improvements in government operations and economic growth, while meticulously managing associated risks.
Central to this initiative is the creation of the Artificial Intelligence Leadership Council, co-chaired by Secretary of Information Technology Teena Piccione and Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. The council also includes four state lawmakers, two from each major political party, ensuring bipartisan oversight. Governor Stein emphasized the dual nature of AI, stating, ‘AI has the potential to transform how we work, how we live. There are extraordinary possibilities with AI, and also serious risks.’ The council’s mandate is to guide the state in advancing AI use responsibly.
Further bolstering the state’s AI infrastructure, the Executive Order establishes an AI Accelerator within the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT). This accelerator is envisioned as a ‘tech innovation hub’ where state agencies can collaborate with universities and private companies to test and develop AI solutions beneficial to the state. Its duties include monitoring AI activities across agencies, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities, tracking AI-related risks, and developing and evaluating pilot projects that apply trustworthy, responsible, and sustainable AI to government challenges. The accelerator will also provide strategic guidance to ensure alignment with the State AI Strategic Roadmap, which was published by NCDIT in August 2024.
Secretary Piccione highlighted the practical applications of AI, noting that people already use it daily, such as for navigation apps. She stated, ‘It’s an intricate tool that can be used just as any other tool, like a computer. So it’s going to make it more efficient for workers actually do their job.’ While acknowledging potential employment consequences in both public and private sectors, Governor Stein pointed to the state’s 20% vacancy rate for state employees, suggesting AI could help deliver ‘maximum value to North Carolinians, to taxpayers through government services with the expenditures that we have.’
North Carolina has been proactively exploring AI for years. As early as 2019, the state piloted ‘NC eLink,’ an enterprise approach using machine learning to connect data across state agencies, improving data integration for policy questions, fraud combat, criminal justice, and public health monitoring. In early 2024, an AI working group was facilitated to develop an artificial intelligence framework, establishing basic guidelines for state agencies and fostering open communication for conceptualizing, piloting, and producing AI use cases.
In a related development, the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer (DST) partnered with OpenAI in a pilot program announced on April 17, 2025. This 12-week program explores the safe and responsible use of ChatGPT with publicly available data to increase operational efficiency and enhance public service delivery. Use cases include identifying businesses with unclaimed property and analyzing local government financial data, with employees receiving guidance on AI tool usage. State Treasurer Brad Briner commented, ‘Innovation, particularly around data and technology, will allow our department to deliver better results for North Carolina.’
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Overall, North Carolina’s strategy emphasizes developing an effective, ethical, and sustainable approach to integrating AI in state government operations, safeguarding privacy, fairness, and public trust, and preparing its workforce and education system for the evolving social and economic impacts of AI.
