Choosing America Over California in AI

Adam Thierer, an innovation, technology, and policy analyst for the R Street Institute, spoke in very bold terms about the need for a state moratorium on AI regulations, saying “Congress needs to act promptly to formulate a clear national policy framework for artificial intelligence to win the computational revolution.” He mentioned that close to a thousand bills are being considered on regulating artificial intelligence in statehouses across the nation, with fifty in California and close to one hundred and fifty in New York. Such a regulatory environment will be terrible for developers, and that “inconsistent standards will undermine market certainty and hurt investment, innovation, and competition.” 

Thierer likened the current situation with AI to Congress’ approach to the Internet in the 90s, and stated that the federal pre-emptions enacted then can serve as a guiding principle. He cited the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 as similar laws that helped the development of the internet, and reiterated the dangers of a fractured regulatory environment, noting that “America would not have become the global leader in digital technology if we had 50 state computer bureaus, or even a California Computer Commission, allowed to license every single aspect of computing and treat it as a regulated utility.”