New Jersey Named National Leader in AI Innovation
The nonprofit civic tech leader Code for America recently released a nationwide report on states’ AI readiness, naming New Jersey as one of only three states achieving the top-level designation of “Advanced” AI readiness. This designation underscores New Jersey’s leadership in AI and reflects sophisticated capabilities, comprehensive frameworks, and innovative approaches across three key areas related to AI adoption and implementation in state government: Leadership and Governance, AI Capacity Building, and Technical Infrastructure and Capabilities.
The report states: “New Jersey is advanced in its strong commitment to AI development through comprehensive policies, ethical frameworks, capacity building, and infrastructure investments. The state’s proactive approach positions it as a leader in responsible AI adoption and innovation.”
Leadership and Governance
With regard to Leadership and Governance, New Jersey was the first state to adopt an AI use policy. The report highlights Governor Phil Murphy’s establishment of the AI Task Force that has utilized artificial intelligence to engage with thousands of residents and workers. This engagement enabled and informed the administration’s short- and long-term AI goals across the areas of ethics, workforce training, innovation, and governance.
The state also adopted a far-reaching anti-discrimination policy to safeguard residents from misuse of AI in employment and housing.
Partnerships and Innovations
Partnering with Princeton University, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), Microsoft, and CoreWeave, the state broke ground on the highly-anticipated NJ AI Hub in March of this year. The Hub, first announced in 2023, will serve as a state-of-the-art facility for researchers, industry leaders, startups, and other collaborators to pioneer breakthroughs and further New Jersey’s reputation as a global leader in AI.
Through the NJEDA, the state also launched the AI Innovation Challenge Administration Grant Program. Using state data, participating teams will build AI-based software solutions and compete in a series of events to receive a grant of nearly four million dollars that supports the development and launch of their software solutions.
“Under Governor Murphy’s leadership, New Jersey is harnessing the economic potential of AI by making crucial investments into entrepreneurs and companies leading the industry’s growth,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan. “Through NJEDA initiatives like the AI Innovation Challenge, as well as our collaborative efforts on the NJ AI Hub with Princeton University, Microsoft, and CoreWeave, the Garden State is well-positioned to lead in this exciting sector, creating high-quality jobs, transforming communities, and strengthening our economic competitiveness.”
Capacity Building
New Jersey has also excelled in Capacity Building, the second framework evaluated in Code for America’s report.
“We are investing in upskilling our workers to accelerate their responsible and ethical use of AI to improve government services,” stated Beth Simone Noveck, New Jersey State Chief AI Strategist. “These investments are translating into pathbreaking improvements in the delivery of services.”
The report spotlights the New Jersey AI Assistant, a GenAI tool that has been used by 15,000 state workers in just one year since its rollout in July of 2024. Those workers—over 20 percent of the state workforce—have input more than 500,000 prompts into the tool, strengthening its capabilities to help future users. The AI Assistant is paired with a free, best-in-class training that New Jersey developed in partnership with InnovateUS—a training now used by more than 25 other states and local partners.
“We built a safe and secure AI Assistant tool, we equipped state workers to use it, and we’re now a model for how state governments can cost-effectively harness the potential of AI,” said Dave Cole, New Jersey State Chief Innovation Officer. “Combining access to the latest technology like generative AI with accessible training on its responsible use helps us provide better service for our residents.”
The New Jersey AI Assistant tool has:
- simplified and improved several Call Center operations, helping resolve more calls during key moments such as the height of tax season;
- translated documents to help enhance comprehension, reduce form-completion times, and improve parity with English-language experiences;
- analyzed over 70,000 comments on state websites to identify recurring issues as well as bugs that can be quickly fixed; and more.
The tool is also saving millions of dollars, due to its development in-house through the New Jersey State Office of Innovation. The cost-per-user of the NJ AI Assistant is on average about $1 per user per month, versus about $20 per user per month for off-the-shelf commercial licenses.
Technical Infrastructure and Capabilities
New Jersey’s Office of Information Technology has played a crucial role in the state’s accomplishments, including in the third area of the report: Technical Infrastructure and Capabilities.
“We have come a long way in ensuring that state IT infrastructure can support AI, and we will continue to build and enhance AI capacity as we look to the future,” stated Chris Rein, New Jersey State Chief Technology Officer. “Our state workforce deserves a cutting-edge environment that helps us perform at our best for the people of New Jersey, and that’s what we will keep delivering for the sake of all New Jerseyans.”
