Youngkin deploys advanced artificial intelligence to streamline Virginia's bureaucratic procedures, aiming for significant reductions.
In a bid to modernize and streamline government operations, Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia has announced the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a landmark project. The AI will "supercharge" the Youngkin administration's efforts to reduce regulatory burdens, making Virginia's regulatory environment more efficient and business-friendly.
The AI pilot program, launched via Executive Order 51 in 2025, is the first of its kind in the nation. It uses agentic AI, a type of AI that can be programmed to pursue a goal, make autonomous decisions, and take actions. The AI tool scans thousands of pages of agency rules and documents, flagging statutory contradictions, identifying redundancies, and suggesting streamlined language to reduce complexity.
The AI is designed to supercharge and accelerate the ongoing process of regulatory reduction, initially set by Governor Youngkin’s 2022 Executive Directive targeting a 25% cut in regulatory requirements. Agencies can use the AI tool to continuously review and update their regulations and guidance documents more efficiently, aiming to further reduce regulatory burdens and eliminate inefficiencies.
The AI reviews the entire Virginia Administrative Code, the Virginia Register of Regulations, and agency-specific guidance documents. It compares existing regulations with what is required by statute to identify any redundancies and alerts the state to any areas in which regulations are redundant, contradictory, or overbroad. So far, state government guidance documentation has been culled by nearly half, with roughly 48% of the total word counts deleted.
The AI also compares Virginia's regulations to those in other states to see if other states are accomplishing similar goals more efficiently and with less red tape. This comparison aims to help Virginia lead the nation in regulatory modernization, a title it has already earned with its reforms becoming the gold standard across the U.S., with other states and federal agencies looking to replicate Virginia's approach.
Despite some agencies in Richmond not yet meeting Youngkin's 25% goal laid out in his original order, the AI project is aimed at reducing one-quarter of Virginia's red-tape regulatory structure during Youngkin's tenure. This reduction adds to the 26% of regulatory requirements statewide that have been either streamlined or eliminated, resulting in an estimated $1.2 billion annual taxpayer savings.
Peter Finocchio, Youngkin's spokesperson, stated that while the AI will make recommendations, humans will make the final decisions. The use of AI in this context represents a first-in-the-nation approach leveraging agentic AI that combines autonomous scanning with human agency oversight to modernize government regulation holistically and systematically.
Sources:
- Virginia.gov
- Executive Order 51
- Governor Youngkin's 2022 Executive Directive
- Virginia Model for Regulatory Modernization
- Article 1
- Article 2
- Article 3
- Article 4
- Article 5
Contact: Charles Creitz, a reporter for Digital, covers media, politics, and culture for the website. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism.
- The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the landmark project by Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia signifies a significant step in adopting technology in the realm of politics, with the aim of modernizing and streamlining government operations.
- The implementation of AI in Virginia's regulatory environment is expected to have a significant impact on the economy, as the goal is to reduce regulatory burdens, making the state more business-friendly and potentially stimulating economic growth.
- In the realm of health and wellbeing, the AI tool could indirectly influence the state's healthcare system by reducing regulatory complexity and easing the administrative burden on healthcare providers, potentially leading to more efficient and affordable care.
- This first-in-the-nation approach utilizing AI in the context of regulations marks an interesting point of discussion, with various opinions arising around the consequences for general news, society, and even the future development of artificial intelligence itself, as it pushes the boundaries of what AI can achieve in the political sphere.
