As Minnesota concluded its legislative season last month, state chief information officer Tarek Tomes said one success will be seen in funding approved for the anti-combustion program, which is expected to use artificial intelligence.
The program, which Tomes said is a “characteristic” of the 2026 budget total, includes a centralized investigation unit within the state's Criminal Arrest Bureau, dedicated to preventing fraud. Tomes said the program will allow states to fight fraud, particularly within the Medicaid system, by prototyping “preemptive” AI technology.
The new program is part of the state's larger efforts to reduce government assistance program fraud, which was ramping during the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2023 report estimates that fraud against federal unemployment insurance programs alone during the Covid-19 pandemic totals between $100 billion and $135 billion, with other estimates making the overall total even higher.
Minnesota has been particularly difficult to get scam this year. The budget allocation follows an executive order signed at the beginning of the year, and announces that the state will launch an experimental project to create an Antifraud unit and explore how AI can help prevent fraud. 46 people have been convicted of roles in a $250 million future scheme that exploited federally funded child nutrition programs during the pandemic.
“One thing that really matters is that it's fraud that exists globally and is not restricted to the private sector at all. Trillions of dollars in individual fraud have been asked by people who are exploited to pay tolls that don't exist as online and institutions,” Tomes says. “I think 60% of Global Fortune 100 companies are investing in anti-fraud efforts, so the government is not doing this because it has its own issues. In fact, the refinement and tools and AI used to commit crimes and commit fraud should be on the forefront of investing in tools to protect us as well.”
