A new report from the American Consumer Institute and R Street Institute highlights on Mar. 19 that more than 1,500 bills related to artificial intelligence are currently under consideration in state legislatures across the United States. The report, titled “The AI Terrible Ten,” identifies what it describes as the most problematic AI-focused legislative ideas being considered at the state level.
The growing number of state-level proposals is raising concerns about a fragmented regulatory landscape for AI technologies. The report warns that as fear-driven regulation spreads, it could undermine a previously coherent national approach to technology policy and diminish America’s influence in the global AI sector.
Among the examples cited is Colorado’s comprehensive AI “fairness” law passed in May 2024, which imposes broad mandates on developers regarding algorithmic discrimination in high-risk use cases. Governor Jared Polis warned during its signing that the measure would “create a complex compliance regime for all developers and deployers of AI” through “significant, affirmative reporting requirements,” adding concern about its impact on technological advancement in Colorado. Lawmakers have since worked to scale back and delay implementation of this law, but similar legislation has been introduced in other states including Texas and South Carolina.
Other states are considering wide-ranging measures such as Florida’s proposed “AI Bill of Rights,” which includes regulations on data centers, chatbots, publicity rights, defamation, political advertising, and more. Despite support from Governor Ron DeSantis, lawmakers have expressed reservations about aggressive regulation that may conflict with federal priorities. New York and California have also enacted or amended laws targeting model safety and transparency requirements for frontier AI labs and online platforms; some provisions have led to calls for revision due to unintended consequences affecting user privacy.
The report notes that these overlapping laws create multiple regulatory patchworks—such as those governing chatbots or algorithmic pricing—that risk confusing compliance regimes for innovators. For example, states like Washington and Pennsylvania are advancing child protection bills that could inadvertently disrupt real-time AI uses for hearing or cognitive assistance. Meanwhile, Nevada and Illinois have enacted bans on certain types of AI mental healthcare assistance amid ongoing workforce shortages.
According to the report’s co-author Logan Kolas, Director of Technology Policy at the American Consumer Institute: “Chaos, confusing patchworks, speech violations, and technological repression create new problems and solve nothing. America needs prudent, measured responses that ensure safety and innovation are balanced more reasonably than the fear-based fever driving AI policy today.”
