The goal is to give state departments a sense of what’s available in the area of large language models — key components of generative AI (GenAI) — and how those tools may be applied to solving challenges facing the state.
As part of an executive order that Gov. Gavin Newsom issued earlier this year, he convened a summit on GenAI with leaders from technology, labor, government and academia to explore ways the state can use GenAI to better serve residents.
“The innovator community jumped at the chance to partner with the state to explore if GenAI can benefit our residents and our workforce,” Government Operations Agency Secretary Amy Tong said in a news release issued Thursday by Newsom’s office. “This overwhelming response, along with the ongoing work, shows us that we can embrace GenAI’s many opportunities while taking appropriate measures to approach it safely and responsibly,” Tong said.
As a result of that summit, state agencies and departments weighed the possible applications for GenAI and compiled a list of the state’s biggest problems, according to the news release announcing the new call to vendors — especially those involved in developing AI and applications.
Those challenges are:
- Department of Finance: “Streamline legislative research and analysis” and “Identify statewide efficiency opportunities through budget change proposal analysis.”
- Employment Development Department: “Data Limitations and Accuracy” and “Recession Planning.”
- Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) and California Health and Human Services Agency: “Connecting Treatment Beds to the Most Vulnerable Californians.”
- BCSH: “Streamlining Shelter Availability.”
- BCSH and the Department of Housing and Community Development: “Improving data collection and validation” and “Analyzing progress on building projects and program initiatives.”
More details about each of these challenges, including specifications and requirements for vendor participation, are available online.
If selected for the showcase, presenters will be given 15 minutes each to share the most current functional capabilities of their tools related to the challenge statements. A 10-minute question-and-answer session will immediately follow each demonstration.
“The most qualified owner-developers of LLMs that best address department challenges will be selected and invited to present” at the showcase, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 16 in Sacramento, the news release says. More information is available via email.
“These challenges follow the state’s May announcement of partnerships with leading companies for five specific challenges seeking GenAI solutions, including new proofs of concept to explore how GenAI could help address challenges like traffic congestion and language accessibility, and more,” the news release says.
This story first appeared in Industry Insider — California, part of e.Republic, Government Technology's parent company.
