High Yield Markets
  • World News
  • Politics
  • Investing
  • Stock
  • Editor’s Pick
Editor's PickInvesting

What Is the Opportunity Cost of State AI Policy? A New Cato Policy Analysis Discusses

by June 10, 2025
June 10, 2025

Jennifer Huddleston

In the first half of 2025, over 1,000 bills related to artificial intelligence (AI) have been introduced at the state level. This follows Colorado becoming the first state to pass a comprehensive law significantly regulating AI in both its development and deployment last year. What might this mean for the future of AI, as well as for the overall policies that states and the federal government take on innovation?

SEE MORE: Is a State AI Patchwork Next? AI Legislation at a State Level in 2024

Cato just released the “Opportunity Costs of State and Local AI Regulation” policy analysis authored by FAI Research Fellow Joshua Levine. This paper examines the trade-offs involved in state and local-level AI regulation through the lens of opportunity cost, an economic concept of the cost of the opportunity forgone by a particular action.

Among this paper’s key points:

  • Beyond just AI policy, state approaches to tax, energy, and personal liability policy can also encourage and discourage investments in technology, including AI.
  • Current state-level AI policy discussions range significantly, including those seeking merely to study and understand the technology or its impact on a particular industry, as well as regulation on deployment or development, resulting in a wide range of opportunity costs for various regulations.
  • The costs of state and local AI regulation include hindering the diffusion of this technology and creating significant opportunities for regulatory capture and rent seeking. Regulation risks setting a predetermined outcome for a technology in its infancy.

SEE MORE: Words to Fear: I’m From the State Government, and I’m Here to Help with AI Risk

This discussion comes as debate over a potential moratorium on state-level AI policy continues. Considering the impact of state-level AI policy, however, the conversation extends not only to what the policy would do but also to what might not be accomplished in the meantime.

previous post
Twin Daughters of Senior LA Official, One Who Uses They/Them Pronouns, Arrested After Allegedly Assaulting Police Officer with a Deadly Weapon During Riots
next post
D.C. Lawyers Deliver Crushing Defeat to Pam Bondi’s Brother to Lead Washington, D.C., Bar

You may also like

Can the White House Denaturalize Domestic Opponents?

July 25, 2025

An Updated Interview with George Selgin on Free...

July 25, 2025

Inflation Can Increase Capital Gains Tax Rate to...

July 25, 2025

Friday Feature: Edefy, “Pod Schooling Made Simple”

July 25, 2025

Yiwu: China’s Free-Market City

July 25, 2025

Man Admits to Medicaid Fraud—That’s Not the Worst...

July 25, 2025

States Are Streamlining Licensing—ICE Is Kicking In Windows

July 24, 2025

Learning from the Caribbean CBDC Experience

July 24, 2025

Fifteen Years of Dodd-Frank: A Legacy of Missed...

July 23, 2025

July 30 Event: Senators Tim Kaine and Rand...

July 23, 2025
Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get Premium Articles For Free


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Recent Posts

  • Can the White House Denaturalize Domestic Opponents?

    July 25, 2025
  • An Updated Interview with George Selgin on Free Banking and Bitcoin

    July 25, 2025
  • Inflation Can Increase Capital Gains Tax Rate to Infinity

    July 25, 2025
  • Friday Feature: Edefy, “Pod Schooling Made Simple”

    July 25, 2025
  • Yiwu: China’s Free-Market City

    July 25, 2025
  • About Us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Email Whitelisting

Copyright © 2025 highyieldmarkets.com | All Rights Reserved

High Yield Markets
  • World News
  • Politics
  • Investing
  • Stock
  • Editor’s Pick