National Nurses United, UE Local 150, community activists say North Carolina’s ‘A.I. Strategic Roadmap’ falls short

Friday press conference to demand strong guardrails and worker protections

National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States, will host a press conference on Friday, July 24, 2026 in Raleigh, N.C., to call on the state to implement strong guardrails and worker protections against A.I. Among the demands are: a statewide moratorium on data centers and enforceable measures to ensure that health care professionals and patients make decisions about their care and treatment, including the right of nurses and other health care professionals to override any A.I. output.

The press conference is in response to the North Carolina A.I. Leadership Council's "A.I. Strategic Roadmap," which NNU, fellow unions, and community activists say does not go far enough to protect workers and patients against A.I. Hannah Drummond, RN, was the lone council member to vote against the council's recommendations, saying they fall far short of their goals.

"As nurses, we have the power, the authority, and the responsibility to build a future that ensures future generations can find meaningful work, secure livelihoods that will support themselves and their families, and receive health care from caring humans who are there at the bedside when patients are in need," said Hannah Drummond, RN, and member of the North Carolina A.I. Leadership Council. "This is why union nurses with National Nurses United demand that North Carolina's lawmakers pass common sense guardrails on A.I."

What: Press Conference demanding A.I. protections in North Carolina
Who: National Nurses United, American Association of University Professors NC, UE - Local 150, North Carolina Data Center Network
When: Friday, July 24, 2026 10 a.m.- 10:45 a.m.
Where: In front of the North Carolina General Assembly, 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh N.C.

Speakers include:

• Hannah Drummond, RN-member of North Carolina A.I. Leader Council and NNOC/NNU
• Darrion Smith - UE Local 150, North Carolina Public Service Workers Union
• Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway Jr. - North Carolina Environmental Justice Network for the NC Data Center Network
• Belle Boggs - American Association of University Professors, North Carolina

NNOC/NNU urges North Carolina's elected leaders both on the state and local level to:

• Place a moratorium on new data centers in our state until we have these strong enforceable protections in our laws to keep patients, workers, nursing, and our democracy safe from A.I.
• Adopt common sense guardrails on A.I. in health care and in our workplaces, including:
  • Protections to ensure A.I. is proven to be safe and effective before it's deployed in patient care
  • Protections to ensure nurses' clinical judgment isn't replaced by A.I. and human health care workers are in command of patient care decisions
  • Protections to ensure that A.I. - including data centers used to power A.I. - does not increase electricity or utility prices, harm communities, or destroy the environment.

"The U.S. labor movement must be prepared to fight for A.I. to be used to improve people's lives, not to drive mass unemployment, climate disaster, war, and increased profits for the ultrarich," said Darrion Smith, UE, Local 150.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.