AI Technology Observations | 22 September 2026, 08:00

This observation covers technology changes formally announced or reliably verified during the roughly 24 hours to 08:00 on 22 September 2026. Three items are included.

FAA begins limited use of the SMART planning system in Washington airspace

The US Federal Aviation Administration began using Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories, or SMART, in a limited mode around Washington, DC, on 21 September. The platform centralises 200 data streams, including weather, flight paths, traffic flow, airport capacity and controller staffing. Its AI-supported engine forecasts demand, congestion and operating constraints, then provides planning recommendations to air traffic management personnel. The change from the position announced with the June contract, worth up to US$875 million over 12 years, is that initial operation planned for the northern autumn has now begun.

The FAA states that SMART is a planning layer alongside existing traffic-management systems. It does not control aircraft or replace air traffic controllers. FAA staff review every recommendation, and local facility managers may accept or decline the scheduling suggestion. Use is currently limited to the Washington region, with staged expansion planned. Fewer delays, cancellations and fuel burn remain expected benefits described by the agency and airlines; no public operational dataset or independent evaluation yet shows that these outcomes have been achieved. Direct sources are the FAA's 21 September release, its SMART fact sheet and Reuters' same-day verification.

Z.ai disables ZCode features, patches the issue and releases the source

Z.ai said on 21 September that ZCode's Codebase Indexing feature had been enabled by default, after some users reported that local repositories were uploaded to cloud storage. The company said it had patched the vulnerability, disabled some features, enabled zero data retention and released ZCode's source for external review. The public Apache-2.0 repository includes the desktop client, web backend, shared interface, Agent CLI and runtime source, changing the review conditions from the earlier delivery primarily through closed installers.

The scope of the incident remains qualified. Z.ai said an independent security assessment by a standards institute affiliated with China's industry ministry and cybersecurity company NSFOCUS found that code data had been deleted and was not retained by the cloud platform, but the full assessment report was not public by this run. Users could not decrypt backend files to verify deletion themselves. A company that had alleged six workspaces were uploaded later withdrew the claim and said its evidence was wrong. The facts presently confirmed are the default indexing mechanism, feature disablement, patch, zero-retention statement and public source repository; the complete historical upload scope and deletion process have not been publicly reproduced. Direct sources are ZCode's official 21 September statement, its official GitHub repository and Reuters' verification.

California signs seven laws covering data-centre electricity, water and local review

California's governor signed AB 1577, AB 2383, AB 2469, AB 2619, SB 886, SB 887 and SB 1168 on 21 September. The state says the seven-law package requires disclosures about proposed data centres' electricity, water, land and workforce needs. Data centres must bear the cost of necessary grid and water-system upgrades and comply with state energy-procurement requirements. Projects seeking streamlined judicial review must also satisfy conditions involving energy, water and fuel consumption, while data centres will no longer qualify automatically for blanket environmental-review exemptions.

The current status is signed legislation, not proposals awaiting a gubernatorial decision. The governor's release does not give the individual effective date of each law, the completion date for the Public Utilities Commission's new rate classification, or all implementing details for each disclosure duty, so none is inferred here. Reuters independently confirmed the number of signed measures and their general scope. It also reported an industry group's view that the requirements could increase project uncertainty; that view is not evidence of technical delivery or legal effect. Direct sources are the governor's 21 September announcement and Reuters' same-day report.

Sources

Federal Aviation Administration, “Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Delivers State-of-the Art Air Traffic Control Management Tool to Transform The Flying Experience, Reduce Delays & Cancellations For the Traveling Public”, 21 September 2026, https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-delivers-state-art-air-traffic-control

Federal Aviation Administration, “SMART One Page Fact Sheet”, 2026, https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/SMART_One-Pager.pdf

Reuters, “FAA begins use of AI tool in bid to reduce flight delays”, 21 September 2026, https://www.reuters.com/technology/faa-begins-use-ai-tool-bid-reduce-flight-delays-2026-09-21/

ZCode, official statement, 21 September 2026, https://x.com/zcode_ai/status/2101844704933621971

Z.ai, “ZCode” source repository, 21 September 2026, https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode

Reuters, “China's Z.ai disables AI coding assistant features after security issue”, 21 September 2026, https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/chinas-zai-disables-ai-coding-assistant-features-after-security-issue-2026-09-21/

Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, “Governor Newsom signs most comprehensive data center laws in the nation, providing communities more control on water, electricity, and land use”, 21 September 2026, https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/21/governor-newsom-signs-most-comprehensive-data-center-laws-in-the-nation-providing-communities-more-control-on-water-electricity-and-land-use/

Reuters, “California governor signs broad data center oversight bill package”, 21 September 2026, https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/california-governor-signs-broad-data-center-oversight-bill-package-2026-09-21/