AI regulation in the US is heating up, but keeping up will become harder

Responsible AI is getting a lot of buzz. With policy conversations around the deregulation of AI, we’ve been led to believe that ethical practices are falling on enterprises, as they largely have since the inception of the technology. This, however, is wrong. The days of “AI washing” are coming to an end. And while we may see lags in federal oversight, that’s not the case for state and local governments.  

State lawmakers across the US introduced nearly 700 AI-related bills in 2024 across 45 states. Of the bills that were introduced, 113 were ultimately enacted into law. This is a feather in the cap of true responsible, ethical AI. But it’s also a real challenge for enterprises. While piecemeal AI governance is better than nothing, it makes for an extremely complex and fragmented legal environment.  

States like California, Colorado, Utah, Texas and Tennessee are blazing the trail, enacting comprehensive legislation to govern AI systems. Others, including New York, Illinois and Virginia, are advancing targeted and sector-specific regulations. While smaller states remain lightly regulated, partly because they sometimes wait to adopt legislation from larger ones, enterprises operating digitally or across state lines need to be aware of potential breaches of law.