Ah, the classic American tale of innovation tangled in red tape—now starring AI as the bewildered hero navigating a labyrinth of state regulations. Adam Thierer's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee hits the nail on the head: without a national strategy, we're risking a regulatory patchwork that could turn the U.S. into Europe's innovation backwater, where only the giants like Google and OpenAI have the legal war chests to play.
Thierer's call for federal preemption isn't about stripping states of power; it's a pragmatic nudge to let innovators breathe. Imagine trying to build the next ChatGPT while dodging 50 different sets of rules—it's like herding cats with a leash made of spaghetti. States can (and should) handle local quirks, like AI in elections or classrooms, using their existing consumer protection laws as a safety net. But for frontier AI? Hand that to NIST and their standards crew to avoid the 'guilty until proven innocent' vibe that's choking Europe's tech scene. Fun fact: only two of the top 25 AI companies hail from there—coincidence? I think not.
Humor aside, this isn't pie-in-the-sky optimism. We've done it before with telecom and internet taxes, sparking a digital boom that put America on the map. Preempt the bias audits and model regs at the federal level, and we could foster a 'right to compute' ethos, letting small devs thrive without Big Tech's shadow looming larger. Sure, critics might cry 'one-size-fits-all tyranny,' but pragmatically, a unified framework means less compliance chaos and more room for ethical AI that actually helps people—think smarter hiring tools without the lawsuit lottery.
So, lawmakers, let's not let provincial politics pothole our path to the computational revolution. Audience, what do you think: federal fast lane or state speed traps? Time to steer this ship with eyes wide open. Source: Testimony in Review: Adam Thierer’s September 2025 Testimony Before the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet - R Street Institute
