America’s AI regulatory patchwork is crushing startups and helping China

When autonomous driving startup PerceptIn set out to navigate America’s artificial intelligence regulations, it budgeted $10,000 for compliance. The actual bill exceeded $344,000 per deployment project, more than double the company’s research and development costs. Two months ago, PerceptIn went out of business.

Last year, states introduced more than 1,200 AI-related bills, with at least 145 becoming law, creating contradictory requirements that multiply compliance burdens. Each jurisdiction...