OpenAI, one of the most prominent developers of artificial intelligence technology in the U.S., announced an “OpenAI for Government” initiative that seeks to further integrate the company’s AI tools into local and federal government operations.

Building on ChatGPT Gov, the company’s language learning model customized for government employees, OpenAI for Government consolidates the company’s efforts to provide its products and services to the U.S. government “under one umbrella,” according to a press release. 

Congress returns to work this fall with the clock ticking on surface transportation funding. Cities and states have a lot to gain — or lose — as they work to maintain roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.

When the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires in September next year, it takes with it $350 billion in federal highway funding, largely distributed to states according to a preset formula based on population and roadway miles.

As members of Congress and the White House begin compiling their priorities, there’s an emerging tension between states, which generally receive almost all of the federal highway funding, and cities and counties, which typically receive very little directly, despite controlling a large share of roads and bridges.

Construction input prices ticked up 0.4% in July, the same increase for nonresidential inputs, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data.

Input prices now sit 2.2% higher overall and 2.6% higher for nonresidential construction compared to a year ago, according to the report. Copper wire and cable, for example, surged 4.9% in July and 12.2% year over year.

There is some good news and some bad news in the latest outlook for nonresidential construction spending on buildings, according to the latest AIA Consensus Construction Forecast.

First the good news: In spite of stubbornly high long-term interest rates, inflation rates stalled above the Federal Reserve Board’s target, falling consumer confidence scores, disappointing levels of home building activity, rising tariff rates for many inputs to construction, and construction labor shortages exacerbated by restrictive immigration policies, the outlook for the remainder of the year and into 2026 is largely unchanged from where it was at in the beginning of the year.  

The bad news: The outlook for spending entering the year was very pessimistic.