National News Roundup – March 6, 2025

Airbnb Sues New Orleans Over New Regulation

Short-term rental policy requires city permits for all listed properties.

Last year, after years of struggle with short-term rentals, New Orleans, Louisiana adopted a wide-ranging policy. The regulations, set to go into effect in June, require Airbnb and other companies to verify that all New Orleans properties listed on their platforms have permits from the city. New Orleans City Council President J.P.Morrell calls the policy a “game-changer” that will “gut the ability to illegally list fake permits and Airbnbs.”

Airbnb said it should not be tasked with implementing the city’s policies. The company has pushed back against other cities’ efforts to regulate it, previously suing New York and San Francisco. Now Airbnb has filed suit against the City of New Orleans in federal court.

The company says it has no responsibility for the actions of its hosts, citing the same law that protects social media companies from liability for users’ posts. Airbnb also claims it has no obligation to verify that listings comply with city regulations, which it described as a “highly punitive enforcement regime.”

There are currently about 1,350 non-commercial short-term rental properties with legal licenses in the city, according to City of New Orleans data. But there are more than 7,000 active Airbnb listings in New Orleans, revealing thousands of illegal short-term rentals, said Angela Owczarek, an affordable housing advocate.

Looming in the background is another issue: New Orleans is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, similar to many cities around the country. The city had a deficit of 47,000 housing units that someone making at or below the city’s median income could afford, according to a 2022 report.

“Airbnbs and short-term rentals play into that, taking residential units off the market and saving them for tourists instead of having them available for the families that want to live and work in New Orleans or who are already here,” said Monique Blossom, director of policy at the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center.

Airbnb countered with a statement that the city’s short-term rental regulations do not address the issues underlying its housing challenges, such as high insurance costs.

(Source: Associated Press)

AI-Generated Meeting Summaries Pose Risks

Human Review and Guidelines Essential with Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, can be an excellent tool to aid businesses across industries, including local governments. It can cause significant risks, too.

One potential application is the use of AI to generate automated summaries of meetings and distribute them to participants. Participants may not be even aware that meeting discussions are being captured. The AI applications can capture virtual meeting chats and often voices as well. The discussions are then automatically summarized by the AI application and sent to all participants, often without any approval or oversight.

While this feature can save time and provide useful information, it also poses significant risks, particularly for local government leaders and others who handle sensitive information. Potential risks include the possibility that AI-generated summaries may inadvertently include sensitive or confidential information that is not appropriate to be shared with all participants.

AI is still a work-in-progress in terms of understanding context and may lack the nuanced understanding of the information it summarizes, leading to dissemination of material that could misinterpret or misrepresent the discussions. Artificial Intelligence also often eliminates human oversight. Distributing sensitive information without proper human review and vetting can lead to legal liabilities and ethical breaches.

AI-generated summaries can be a valuable tool, but it is crucial for local government leaders to be aware of the potential risks and liabilities and take proactive steps to mitigate them. By implementing review processes, setting clear guidelines, educating staff, and using AI as a supplement rather than a replacement for human oversight, organizations can harness the benefits of AI while safeguarding sensitive, potentially litigious information.

(Source: ICMA—International City County Management Association)

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