Methodology and sources

Approach

This report draws on three categories of source: (1) primary documents — bills, agency strategies, court guidance, organizational mission statements, public press releases, and procurement notices; (2) secondary reporting from South Carolina–focused outlets, including The Post and Courier, SC Daily Gazette, SC Public Radio, and the trade press; and (3) national context from peer-reviewed research, federal agency releases, and major reports including Anthropic's Labor Market Impacts of AI (March 2026), the McKinsey State of AI surveys, and Microsoft's Work Trend Index.

Where SC-specific data is available, it leads. Where SC-specific data is unavailable but national patterns clearly apply, the national data is cited and the gap is named. Where neither is available, the chapter says so.

What is not in this report

This is a landscape survey, not an investigation. The report does not allege wrongdoing, does not score institutions on quality of work, and does not take sides on contested policy questions. Where contested questions arise — around energy pricing, school AI policy, insurance prior authorization, content moderation — the report attempts to lay out the terms of the debate without prescribing an answer.

Specifically excluded from the scope of this edition: detailed organizational profiles of every SC AI startup; benchmark performance comparisons of specific commercial models; legal analysis of SC-specific liability questions; and forecasting models of AI's economic impact on the state. Subsequent editions or specialized SCAIO publications may address these.

Editorial principles

• Champion, don't critique. SCAIO's role is to make AI work in South Carolina more visible and connected. Other publications can and do critique specific actors; SCAIO's contribution is in the surfacing.
• Label ideologically positioned sources. Where a source has a stated ideological lens (think tank, advocacy group, partisan publication), the report names that lens explicitly. The SCAIO ecosystem directory follows the same convention.
• Cite the work, not the person. Specific individuals are named when their public role makes them part of the public record (e.g., bill sponsors, named institute directors). Otherwise the report describes the work and the institution.
• Honest about evidence. Claims are presented with the strength of their underlying evidence. Where SC-specific data exists, it leads. Where only national patterns exist, the analogical inference is named explicitly.
• Welcome correction. This is an evolving working report. Errors will be corrected, omissions filled, and chapters rewritten as the picture sharpens. Contact SCAIO with corrections at any time.

Sources by chapter

The sources below are the substantive primary and secondary documents underlying each chapter. Where a source informs multiple chapters, it is listed under the chapter that most depends on it; cross-references are noted. This bibliography will expand in subsequent editions as new material is added or surfaced.

Trade press and regional reporting

The following outlets are cited recurrently throughout the report. Their continued capacity to cover South Carolina's AI story matters to the integrity of public understanding in the state.

• The Post and Courier — Charleston-based daily; SC AI committee, data-center, BMW reporting
• SC Daily Gazette — statewide digital outlet; Santee Cooper rate pilot and Moc-1 reporting
• SC Public Radio — public broadcasting; statewide policy and explanatory coverage
• Greenville Business Magazine — Upstate business publication; BMW, Michelin, and manufacturing AI coverage
• BMW Blog — independent automotive trade press; BMW Spartanburg coverage
• Latitude Media — energy / climate trade press; Meta Orangeburg coverage
• TechCrunch — national technology trade press; V.C. Summer revival coverage
• MUSC News — institutional publication; MUSC clinical-AI and DAX Copilot coverage

Acknowledgments

This edition was researched and drafted with input from public materials of the institutions named throughout the report. Specific contributors and reviewers will be acknowledged here as the report matures and as those individuals consent to public attribution.

SCAIO welcomes correction, addition, and refinement to any section of this report. The work is intended as a living document — a v0.x rather than a v1.0 — and will be revised in subsequent editions as the SC AI picture sharpens. Contact the SCAIO team with anything you would like the next edition to consider.