Opinion: The U.S. can be an AI leader — if states stay out of the way

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In 1919, future president and Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower learned the hard way that it took two months for a U.S. Army convoy to travel from coast to coast in the United States. This was primarily due to poor quality roads, missing or dangerous bridge spans, to name just a few of the problems. During his second term as president, the former Army man didn’t forget about this cross-country experience nor what he had seen in Germany during the second World War — a new system of interconnected roads that were part of that country’s Autobahn.

Eisenhower put forth a plan in 1955 that would allow the federal government to fund and construct a system of connected “interstate” highways from coast to coast. The National Insterstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956 eventually constructed 41,000 miles of paved highways without toll roads at the time it was constructed. It was the largest public works program in American history. In today’s money, the interstate highway system cost the federal government $215 billion and took 10 years to build. It was a big idea that was transformational in American history — and still is today.

Eisenhower signed the bill into law on June 29, 1956 — the same day that the U.S. Senate this year began debating a similar transformational piece of legislation.

Under consideration in the U.S. Senate as part of the budget reconciliation bill is a moratorium on states who seek to regulate the next big thing: the rapidly developing artificial intelligence (AI) industry. [Opinion editor’s note: The House passed its version of the bill in May. The Senate was nearing a vote on Monday but hadn’t yet reached that point as the publication deadline for this article arrived.]

Without congressional intervention, our 50 state legislatures, along with various other governmental entities, will continue down the path of enacting random rules and ill-informed guidelines that could contain or curtail the rapidly developing AI industry.

Today, we need a durable AI superhighway. And Congress needs to enact the proposed moratorium to ensure that this industry is allowed to flourish in America.

Last year alone more than 1,000 AI bills were introduced in various state legislatures. Without congressional intervention, America’s tech future is directly threatened. Without this much-needed moratorium, AI will continue to develop randomly in America, much like the random and oftentimes dangerous patchwork of two-lane roads that existed prior to 1956.

But the threat with hindering AI is much larger and presents an existential threat: Without a mandate prohibiting state’s intervention into this burgeoning industry for a period of time, we will be inadvertently hindering American tech companies and thus empowering authoritarian governments like China who will use AI to achieve their plans to rapidly supplant the U.S. as the tech leader.

Many tech experts believe we’re at a transformational time for AI. While we still don’t know all that AI will do, it’s safe to say that it will no doubt be the next big thing in ways we can only imagine in 2025. AI’s ability to become transformational will only occur because Congress allows the next iteration of the technological “Wild West” to exist — a stage 2.0 of the digital age, if you will.

The potential for our country and American industries are staggering: Goldman Sachs estimates that in the next 10 years, “AI will add more than $7 trillion in wealth globally.” For America to lead in the exploration, development and quality of AI, industry experts are also optimistic — but only if government stays out of the way.

Congress used to do big things — big ideas that when enacted, helped create the wonderful, interconnected country we are blessed to live in today. This month, Congress is on the verge of doing another one of those really big things that will be remembered for decades, much like the interstate highway system continues to connect us all. And for once, these visionary American industries that are asking for government intervention aren’t asking Congress for any taxpayer handouts — just to let their industry continue to develop and thrive. That’s a worthy “ask” that Congress should accept.

Annette Meeks is CEO of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, an independent, nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to free-market principles and liberty-based public policy initiatives.