7 minute read | December.05.2025
State AGs are increasingly shaping the regulatory environment for companies operating in tech, finance, healthcare, retail and beyond. Their initiatives—often bipartisan and coordinated across multiple states—can trigger investigations, litigation, reputational risk, and shifts in compliance expectations. This update highlights recent actions taken by the state AGs throughout the country.
North Carolina Attorney Jeff Jackson and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown jointly announced a nationwide, bipartisan state Attorney General AI Task Force, in partnership with major AI developers including Microsoft and OpenAI, aiming to proactively address emerging risks tied to artificial-intelligence technologies. The task force will be hosted by the Attorney General Alliance.
The task force intends to work with law enforcement, AI experts, and industry stakeholders to identify AI-related dangers, develop “basic safeguards” for AI developers (particularly to protect children and vulnerable populations), and establish a permanent forum for monitoring AI developments and coordinating timely responses as new challenges arise.
According to the state AGs, this multistate initiative reflects the concern that AI is evolving while existing laws and federal regulation may be too slow or lacking, especially around issues like deepfakes, voice fraud, deceptive content and other harms.
By partnering directly with developers, the task force seeks to build cooperation between regulators and the industry to ensure AI is developed responsibly and to prevent misuse before it causes widespread harm.
In a letter dated November 25, 2025, a coalition of 32 state attorneys voiced opposition to any efforts by Congress to place a moratorium on state-level laws regulating AI The letter argues that although AI holds great promise, it can present serious risks: from AI-generated “deepfakes,” scams, deceptive voice or social-media manipulations and harmful generative-AI outputs to mental health dangers and exploitation, particularly for vulnerable populations such as seniors and children.
Many states have already begun passing targeted laws addressing AI harms, for example, prohibitions on non-consensual explicit imagery, restrictions on AI-based decision making in housing or employment, disclosure requirements when AI is used in high-stakes decisions and bans on AI-powered spam or misinformation.
The letter warns that a broad federal moratorium would freeze states’ ability to respond nimbly as new risks emerge, undermining both existing protections and future regulatory innovation. The coalition is urging Congress to reject any attempted moratorium and instead collaborate with states on sensible federal standards.
With the current Trump administration significantly reining in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, state Attorneys General are beginning to fill the void. A coalition of nine state Attorneys General (California, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina and Wisconsin) has sent letters to the six largest “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) lenders seeking detailed information about their products and business practices to determine whether these lenders are complying with state consumer protection laws and to assess whether BNPL plans are exposing consumers to hidden fees, risky debt or long-term financial harm.
In their letter, the state AGs claim that while BNPL may seem convenient, enabling shoppers to pay in installments at checkout, such loans carry risks. The Attorneys General warn that BNPL products may harbor “unclear terms, hidden fees and debt traps,” particularly for borrowers who are financially vulnerable or unfamiliar with credit. As part of the inquiry, the coalition is requesting disclosures on how lenders assess borrowers’ ability to repay, their billing practices, late fees, how disputed charges are handled and how protections offered to U.S. consumers compare with those abroad. The AGs also urge consumers to approach BNPL credit cautiously, fully understand the loan terms and consider more transparent alternatives such as credit cards or bank loans.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that his office is formally investigating Shein (Shein US Services LLC and affiliates) for alleged violations of Texas law, such as whether Shein’s global supply chain involves unethical labor practices, including possible forced labor, and whether the company sells unsafe consumer products potentially made with toxic or hazardous materials. The investigation will also explore whether Shein misled consumers about the safety and ethical sourcing of its goods.
Beyond labor and product-safety concerns, the inquiry will examine Shein’s data collection and privacy practices, due to possible risks to consumers in Texas. In a statement, Attorney General Ken Paxton said the action reflects a broader goal to ensure that companies selling to Americans meet standards for safety, transparency, and ethical production, and to prevent “cheap, dangerous, foreign goods” from entering the Texas market.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a complaint against Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi, accusing the companies of concealing that their widely prescribed blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate) is ineffective for many patients, particularly Black, East Asian and Pacific Islander individuals. The complaint claims that the companies failed to warn doctors and patients about the drug’s diminished or non-existent effectiveness in those demographics, leading to inappropriate prescriptions and potentially leaving patients at higher risk for heart attacks or strokes.
According to the lawsuit, the companies generated billions of dollars by misleading regulators, consumers and healthcare providers, prioritizing profits over patient safety in violation of the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act and state consumer protection laws.
The Attorney General hired two prominent plaintiffs’ firms to bring the lawsuit, which seeks civil penalties for each violation, attorney’s fees, expenses and costs.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a complaint against proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis), accusing them of misleading investors and abusing their dominance over the proxy-voting market. The complaint alleges that the firms “deceived investors, abused their dominance … and weaponized their influence to impose an ideological agenda” on corporations and Florida retirees.
The suit claims ISS and Glass Lewis control virtually the entire proxy-advisory industry, making their recommendations nearly unavoidable for institutional investors, and that these recommendations often embed controversial environmental, social, and governance (ESG) demands, such as race- or gender-based quotas, rather than focusing on traditional financial performance.
The lawsuit argues that the firms’ practices violate Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (§ 501.204) and antitrust (§ 542.18) laws by coordinating their advice, offering no meaningful market alternatives, and giving investors the impression their guidance was objective and financially motivated when, according to the state, it was ideologically driven. The state is seeking civil penalties, injunctive relief, restitution for affected consumers (including retirees), and other remedies to prevent what it calls “unlawful, anticompetitive practices.”
This is the latest effort by Republican Attorneys General in taking aim at proxy advisors for their practices of pushing ESG policies through corporate shareholder votes.
A new “Retail Theft Investigative Special Task Force” is aimed at aggressively combatting organized retail theft in Florida. The task force, formed by the Florida state AG office in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and the Florida Retail Federation, is designed to reduce jurisdictional obstacles, provide enhanced resources, and enable investigators to pursue stronger charges against organized theft rings and repeat offenders.
Under the new initiative, local law enforcement will have more tools and support to close cases more efficiently, with the goal of deterring retail theft, protecting businesses and preventing price increases for consumers. According to the announcement, 55 individuals have already been charged with organized retail theft and 52 convictions secured since AG Uthmeier’s appointment as Attorney General.