The United States boasts a wide array of climates, cultures, accents, and cuisines. A Cajun crawfish boil in the spring is vastly different from a northeastern chowder in the winter. This patchwork is charming when it comes to seasonal dishes and local accents—not regulatory frameworks. With over 500 bills related to AI in progress across the 50 states, the patchy legislative landscape threatens to hurt innovation and competition in the U.S.

MultiState is currently tracking 673 bills aimed at regulating AI. While some of these bills are aimed at specific uses of AI, like deepfakes and sexual content, others are more broad and seek to place red tape around the technology before it even takes form. For example, Senate Bill 1047 in California would create a regulatory regime that drastically increases liability and compliance costs.

Under SB 1047, developers can be held accountable for what users do with their technology. Imagine if lawmakers regulated cars, phones, or any other piece of commonly used technology in this way. This path threatens to obliterate innovation in a state long considered to be a hub of technological progress.

The increasingly common overzealous approach will have effects that reach beyond their states of origin. When startups and tech companies have to navigate fifty different sets of rules, their product will inevitably suffer. Larger states with industry influence, like California, set the tone for other states. Rather than modifying their product for every state’s individual framework, companies will likely take the path of least resistance and move forward as if the California standard is the national one.

Global AI leadership is vital to both our economy and national security. Instead of focusing on how to maintain and bolster this leadership, developers are forced to prioritize deciphering a patchwork of laws and bureaucracy. Europe serves as a powerful example of the consequences of falling behind because of over regulation. The European Union is struggling to attract entrepreneurs and investors because of its punitive model, where progress has to battle against red tape at every turn.

State lawmakers can avoid a regulatory patchwork by learning what laws are already in place that can address their concerns about AI. Additionally, the consumer is a powerful check against bad uses of AI; the market can create real and clear accountability for tech companies. Avoiding preemptive regulation and trusting the free-market principles that have guided the American innovator for years is a powerful way to ensure that the fifty states can boast local charm, not local regulation.