The AI data center boom will test communities' power, water and infrastructure capacity, requiring public finance professionals to determine who bears the costs and how private investment can produce lasting public benefit.

Investors are hesitant to welcome the concept of AI, which could predict rare muni defaults. Companies specializing in predictive AI for munis believe they'll be able to win over investors.

The lawmakers say their bills would establish safety standards for independent, third-party assessments of artificial intelligence systems and models.

Some shops have opted to build their own pricing systems, which provide customization and competitive advantages, although they carry hidden costs. Others have decided to buy to save time, upfront costs and get best built-in practices.

The $1.2 billion deal, issued by the California Community Choice Financing Authority and underwritten by Goldman Sachs, saw Alphabet as its funding recipient.

A surge in tax revenue driven by AI-related companies masks a persistent structural budget deficit, the Legislative Analyst's Office warned.

Rating agencies, infrastructure analysts and stakeholders are asking questions about the modeling assumptions underpinning data center financings.

Artificial intelligence is very soon going to allow treasury departments to spend vastly less time on routine work and more on stategy, thereby lowering borrowing costs.

Artificial intelligence will help maintain the nation's global competitiveness, according to a panel of political and tech leaders at the Milken Institute's Global conference.

While moratoriums on artificial intelligence hubs and public pushback against data centers dominate the news, more than 800 Midwest communities have approved major data centers, with Illinois as a growing hotspot with 229 sites.

High-yield bond trading is "very bursty," with a lot of information at once and then nothing, said Matt Smith, founder and CEO of Spline Data.

Wisconsin and Ohio lawmakers are showing signs of diverging on data centers as grassroots opposition grows in both states.

"The secondary infrastructure demands [of data centers] will increasingly flow through to municipal balance sheets, driving incremental issuance across multiple sectors," said J.P. Morgan strategists.

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton distills what he heard onstage and in the hallways at The Bond Buyer's 2026 National Outlook, from policy uncertainty and the muni tax exemption to AI's growing role and credit risk hotspots.

A recent report from The Bond Buyer found that data quality and accuracy was the top concern among AI skeptics in the industry.

NFMA "serves a lot of core functions," said Angela Kukoda, its 2026 chair.

If building out AI tools requires a big investment, "it sure helps to have the capital," said Justin Marlowe, a research professor in the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook said AI could boost productivity, but warned the transition may raise unemployment and force difficult tradeoffs between inflation and jobs.

Jeff Lipton compares The Bond Buyer's 2026 Predictions Report to his outlook series.

Financial advisory firm PFM is leveraging its modeling system Synario and partnering with DebtBook, a treasury market accounting software platform.