New Year, New Rules
Happy New Year. While you were counting down, 38 states quietly flipped the switch on AI regulation. Starting today, chatbots can’t pretend to be doctors in California, deepfakes face steeper penalties in Texas, and companies deploying AI must disclose when you’re not talking to a human. The patchwork of state laws is now live, and if your company uses AI in any customer facing way, the compliance clock just started.
⚖️ 38 States’ AI Laws Take Effect Today
➡️ The move: As of January 1, 2026, 38 states have enacted AI legislation covering everything from healthcare chatbots to election deepfakes. California leads with five major bills, including requirements that AI systems cannot claim to be licensed healthcare professionals unless human oversight exists. Texas’s Responsible AI Governance Act prohibits AI used for behavioral manipulation, discrimination, or creating deepfakes. Montana and South Dakota now require disclosures when deepfakes appear in election materials.
⚡ Why it matters: The absence of federal AI legislation created a regulatory vacuum that states rushed to fill. But President Trump’s December 11 executive order signals a federal preemption fight ahead, potentially invalidating state laws the administration deems burdensome. Companies now face a compliance maze that could shift dramatically before the year ends.
🎯 Your takeaway: If your organization uses AI chatbots, generates content, or serves customers in California or Texas, today is the day to verify your disclosure language. The penalty for non disclosure in Texas starts at $10,000 per violation.
💼 VCs Predict AI Will Come for Labor in 2026
➡️ The move: In a TechCrunch survey of enterprise investors, multiple VCs predicted AI will significantly impact the workforce this year, even though the survey never asked about it. Battery Ventures’ Jason Mendel says 2026 will be “the year of agents as software expands from making humans more productive to automating work itself.” An MIT study found 11.7% of jobs could already be automated using current AI technology.
⚡ Why it matters: The narrative is shifting from “AI will help workers” to “AI will replace some workers.” Sapphire’s Rajeev Dham predicts budgets will shift resources from labor to AI spending. Black Operator Ventures partner Antonia Dean warned that even companies not ready to deploy AI effectively will cite it as the reason for workforce reductions.
🎯 Your takeaway: The professionals who thrive in 2026 will be those who can operate AI tools fluently. Your value proposition isn’t doing the work; it’s knowing which work matters and directing AI to execute it.
🏗️ AI Infrastructure Boom Transforms American Landscape
➡️ The move: From Louisiana to Arkansas to Tennessee, AI data centers are reshaping the physical landscape at a scale not seen since the interstate highway system. Meta’s Hyperion campus in Louisiana will draw more electricity than New Orleans. Elon Musk converted a shuttered factory into Colossus, a supercomputer built in 122 days. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley analysts project $1.5 trillion in additional tech borrowing for AI infrastructure, with UBS forecasting $900 billion in new debt issuance in 2026 alone.
⚡ Why it matters: This isn’t speculation about future capability. It’s concrete being poured, power plants being acquired, and chips being allocated for systems coming online next year. Sam Altman said OpenAI would be “way bigger now if we had way more capacity.” Nvidia’s next generation Vera Rubin chips are already spoken for.
🎯 Your takeaway: The infrastructure buildout signals a commitment to AI at a scale that makes the “AI winter” predictions look increasingly unlikely. The question isn’t whether AI capabilities will grow. It’s whether you’ll be positioned to use them.
🔧 Tool Spotlight: Notion 3.0 Agents
Notion 3.0 launched in September with a fundamental shift: AI that doesn’t just assist, but executes. The new Agents feature can work autonomously for up to 20 minutes, performing multi step tasks across hundreds of pages simultaneously.
What makes it different: Unlike chatbots that answer questions, Notion Agents take action. Ask it to build a project launch plan and it will create the pages, assign tasks, draft initial documentation, and set up the tracking database. December updates added GitHub integration (beta), webhook actions connecting to 1,000+ external tools via Zapier, and AI Meeting Notes that link takeaways to specific transcript moments.
Best for: Teams already using Notion who want to automate administrative overhead. Project managers can offload plan scaffolding. Engineering teams can surface issues across repos. Anyone can turn meeting transcripts into structured action items without manual processing.
Pricing: Included with Notion Business ($20/user/month) and Enterprise plans. Free and Plus users no longer have access to AI features.
👉 Try it: In any Notion workspace, ask your Agent to “Build a project plan for [your initiative]” and watch it create the structure in real time.
✨ Try This Today: Build Your AI Toolkit
There are thousands of AI tools. Which ones actually matter for your job? The answer: start with problems, not tools. The best AI toolkit is the one that solves your recurring friction points.
The exercise:
- List 5 tasks you do repeatedly that feel tedious
- For each, ask yourself: “Is this formatting, summarizing, generating, analyzing, or communicating?”
- Match the category to a tool capability:
- Formatting/summarizing → ChatGPT, Claude
- Image generation → Midjourney, DALL-E
- Data analysis → ChatGPT Code Interpreter, Claude
- Transcription → Otter, Granola
- Writing assistance → Grammarly, Claude
The rule: Master 2 to 3 tools deeply before adding more. Depth beats breadth.
Why it works: Most people collect AI tools like apps they never open. This exercise forces you to work backward from actual pain points. The professional who knows one tool deeply outperforms the one who dabbles in ten.
Time required: 15 minutes to complete the audit. Then commit to one tool for the next 30 days.
Dive Deeper Below:
Neural Notes
🔗 The Wire
📎 OpenAI released GPT-5.2, its most capable model for professional tasks including spreadsheets, presentations, and coding. CEO Sam Altman said the company expects to exit “code red” mode by January. CNBC
📎 Meta emerged as the #2 AI monetizer behind Nvidia, growing AI ad revenue to $60 billion, three times OpenAI’s projected run rate, according to I/O Fund analyst Beth Kindig. Yahoo Finance
📎 Z.ai (formerly Zhipu) released GLM-4.7 and announced plans to become the first publicly listed large model company via Hong Kong IPO, with 130% compound annual revenue growth. PR Newswire
Neural Notes — AI that amplifies your value, not replaces it.
