For the past year I have been posting about my concerns about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the lack of legislative safeguards in place as AI becomes increasingly prevalent and autonomous. I have advocated for our elected officials to create legislative safeguards that address the known issues and concerns with unrestricted AI implementation. I even created my own draft of comprehensive AI legislation for lawmakers to consider. What reasons outside of political aspirations and weather do our lawmakers have for failing to act?
You can review my previous blog posts to follow each stage of this journey.
In November 2025, President Trump launched the Genesis Mission via executive order, describing it as “comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project.” Through the Department of Energy (DOE), the Trump Administration is accelerating AI development and implementation at a speed that should concern everyone. I only know about the Genesis Mission because I am interested in technology and AI.
While I support the use of evolving technology and I am supportive of AI use in our lives, I am strongly in favor of legislative safeguards to be in place to protect the American people from this unchecked tool. President Trump revoked President Biden’s Executive Order 14110, which included safeguards addressing many of the concerns experts in the tech field have noted regarding AI use.
On January 23, 2026, I filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with federal agencies, as well as a Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) request to the State of Tennessee.
FOIA and the TPRA provide access to public records so citizens can examine the actions of their government. My experience has been anything but transparent and open. I even had to file a lawsuit against the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration after it denied me access to public records I had lawfully requested.
I support evolving technology and recognize the benefit of AI in every aspect of our lives, but I also recognize the extreme dangers that exist with AI and it is the reason I am advocating in the way I am. I will continue to research and exercise my rights as a Tennessee resident and citizen through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA), attempting to hold our public officials to the same expectations and legislative standards we are held to.
John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (Lord Action) famously said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The framers of the United States Constitution recognized the dangers of concentrated power and established checks and balances to address them. This is also why we have laws like the FOIA and the TPRA, which ensures transparency of the people’s government.
Not only is it very concerning to me when the government doesn’t comply with its own laws and guidelines, it is also not in the spirit of an open and public government that the framers of the Constitution envisioned when it signed the Declaration of Independence.
Because the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration denied my public records request against the guidelines of the TPRA, the TPRA indicates the next step for me to take was to file a lawsuit in Chancery Court, which I did. The judge ORDERED the Tennessee Department of F&A to release the records I requested, which meant it took legal action before they complied with the law! It seemed to me the Department was just hoping I would stop asking questions and would stop trying to exercise my rights. That’s definitely not in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence or the United States Constitution.
When the records were eventually provided, they offered me no reassurance that Tennessee is prepared or has adequate safeguards in place to protect Tennesseans from the dangers of AI.
This should concern all of us.
As I continue researching the Genesis Mission and how the federal government continues to expand its reach regarding AI development to the states, there are several state agencies in Tennessee that are collaborating with the Department of Energy, as well as are recipients of federal funding.
President Trump has stated that at least 24 companies have completed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) regarding their participation with the government through the Genesis Mission. I recently discovered the creation of the Genesis Mission Consortium, which raises additional questions about how this work is organized and what government oversight and transparency requirements apply.
The consortium’s website states: “The Genesis Mission Consortium is administered by RTI International (operating as TechWerx), a partnership intermediary for the U.S. Department of Energy.”
That arrangement deserves public scrutiny. What responsibilities belong to DOE, RTI International, and the participating companies? Who controls the funding and records? What information can the public access?
Given this development, I submitted additional FOIA and TPRA requests to the following agencies and institutions:
United States Department of Energy
The University of Tennessee
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
I requested records including MOUs, collaboration agreements, applications for federal funding, documents showing how funding is received and disbursed, among others.
It took a lawsuit and a judge’s order for the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration to comply with my public records request. I am one person facing a massive government system with resources and legal support far beyond my own. It should not take this much effort to access public information and examine the safeguards surrounding AI and the Genesis Mission.
When a government agency has to be compelled by a judge to provide access to PUBLIC records, we have to ask who is being served by its actions.
I hope these offices I submitted TPRA requests to will handle my requests differently than the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration did. Even if they do not, I have experience dealing with bullies.
Our government uses taxpayer-funded resources and legal representation to fight against me, a Tennessee resident exercising his rights under Tennessee law to seek accountability and safeguards against the dangers of AI for all of us, especially the most vulnerable Tennesseans. Whose interests are being served by weaponizing government resources against me, a Tennessee resident and American citizen?
Special thanks to the following individuals who provided financial support through my GoFundMe and more: Sharon Wolfe, Dusty Jones, Sarah Thomas, and Latasha Thomas-Durrell.
You can read more about this work in my previous posts:
Tennessee’s Dangerous Acceleration Into Artificial Intelligence (AI)