City Artificial Intelligence Contracts

At a glance

What: An order (26-1032) by Councilor Link and Councilor Wheeler asking the Director of Procurement and Contracting Services for a report of all artificial intelligence (AI) vendors and services the City contracts for or pays for.
Where it stands: On Tuesday, October 20, 2026 the Finance Committee recommended marking the order work completed. Councilor Link said he did not believe it had been sufficiently answered.
Next: the administration is drafting an internal AI policy.

Amanda Nagim-Williams, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, said the administration is developing an AI policy with a working group, staff have not been told to use AI, and two AI events were held at City Hall. Bluevoice is the only product bought specifically for AI functions.
David Slonina, Deputy IT Director, described Bluevoice as a closed-loop system that keeps data internal. Other software may have embedded AI features; he worried that publicly listing products with AI as a secondary feature, such as security software, could create security risks. He conceded the City lacks a full inventory of AI use and agreed to look into Councilor Link's report that Outlook had moved many constituent emails into a folder.
Joey Hustins, Deputy Chief Procurement Officer, said the order is about AI contracting, not AI use in general; Procurement cannot track AI features embedded in products not bought for AI.
Councilor Scott said the Police Department and Planning Department both use generative AI for projects, raised concerns about private information going into external AI tools and about public trust if AI is used for public communications, and called for a clear employee policy. Councilor Link called for a more complete inventory.

Finance Committee minutes, October 20, 2026: https://somervillema.legistar1.com/somervillema/meetings/2026/10/4095_M_Finance_Committee_26-10-20_Meeting_Minutes.pdf
The minutes are the Legistar versions, which carry the City's notice that they are not the official version; check with the City Clerk before relying on them.

Discussed; recommended to be marked work completed over Councilor Link's objection that it was not fully answered.