Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) announced the formation of an artificial intelligence task force on Wednesday as Virginia aims to stay ahead of the developing field of AI. 

The new task force consists of 10 experts who will aid state lawmakers on AI, while also assisting state agencies on how they can use AI to improve their operations, according to a statement from the Governor’s office. Youngkin explained he had signed an executive order in January to address the constantly changing field of AI, and that this task force is part of the state’s plan.

“Virginia’s world-class universities, companies, and military bases position it to lead the nation in the development of AI,” Youngkin wrote. “The AI Task Force will play a critical role in ensuring that Virginia stays at the forefront of this rapidly developing industry.”

Members of the task force include John Bailey, the founder of Vestigo Partners, Lori Jennings, the founder of Jennings ProSearch, and Naren Ramakrishnan, a professor of engineering at Virginia Tech, among others. Additional members could be added in the future to either provide more advice or to fill in vacancies.

This task force will only meet twice a year, and will either be conducted in-person or virtually.

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The formation of this task force fulfills part of Executive Order 30, which Youngkin issued earlier this year. Other factors included in this order were guidelines on using AI in education as well as possible implementation in law enforcement.

The topic of AI has raised some concerns among lawmakers, with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signing a bill last month that aimed to regulate election-related deepfakes on social media. However, this bill was blocked by a federal judge shortly after Newsom signed it into law.