Myth: Nobody Regulates AI in America

"The US doesn't regulate AI." I hear this in every room, and it's half true in the way most myths are. There's no single federal AI statute. But step back and look at what's actually enforceable, and the picture changes.

States regulate disclosure, consequential decisions, and synthetic media. Sector regulators never left: hiring, lending, housing, and health care rules apply to algorithms exactly as they apply to humans. The FTC polices deceptive AI claims. Federal agencies inventory and govern their own AI use. Courts apply negligence and discrimination law to machine-made decisions every year.

So no, there's no American AI Act with a single number. There's something more American: fifty states, a dozen regulators, and centuries of common law, all converging on the same demand. Act with reasonable care. The myth is comforting. The reality is more useful.

I explain frameworks; I don't give legal counsel.