The Fight for AI Freedom with China and States

Originally published on Substack. 

Artificial intelligence isn’t an existential threat. It’s not magic, and it’s not going to swallow society whole. AI is simply advanced computing, the next logical extension of tools humans have been building for thousands of years.

Yet politicians—especially here in Texas—are treating AI as if it’s a radioactive substance that must be contained through sweeping regulation. State Senator Angela Paxton and a few colleagues recently urged Congress to reject a federal “moratorium” on state AI laws, claiming Texas has taken “important steps” to protect children and consumers. Their letter and justification can be seen in her tweet.

I understand the desire to protect kids. I’m a dad of three. But overregulating technology out of fear—and surrendering parental authority to capitols—only creates bigger problems. The Texas AI laws passed last session weren’t “responsible.” They were a case study in correlation-over-causation thinking, moral panic, and political control dressed up as child protection.

This is why a federal pause, though not ideal, is needed.

Texas Isn’t Protecting Families. It’s Expanding Government.
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Texas’s AI bills created vague liability standards, broad mandates, and bureaucratic authority with almost zero grounding in sound economics or constitutional limits. These laws shift decision-making away from parents and toward politicians and regulators—the opposite of what a free society demands.

Illegal acts using AI—fraud, exploitation, child endangerment—are already illegal under decades of existing statutes. We punish outcomes, not inputs. We don’t ban cars because someone might speed. We don’t ban pencils because someone wrote something awful.

Yet Texas is regulating AI as if every computing tool is a pre-crime device.

This is not classical liberalism or the limited-government Texas Model I defend in my work at Ginn Economic Consulting and my research on economic freedom. It is paternalism that undermines parents, weakens competition, and slows innovation.

The Precautionary Principle Isn’t Prudence—It’s Paralysis

Texas lawmakers are leaning heavily on the flawed precautionary principle: regulate now “just in case.” But public policy driven by hypothetical harm consistently produces:

• fewer choices
• slower innovation
• higher costs
• more concentrated power
• and worse outcomes for the very people policymakers claim to protect

If applied historically, this principle would have stopped electricity, airplanes, automobiles, calculators, and the internet. Every transformative technology looked scary before it became essential. AI is no different—unless government freezes it in place.

Freedom—not fear—is the best safeguard.

AI Is a Complement, Not a Substitute, If Politicians Let It Be

Much of the panic ignores basic economics. Automation enhances human productivity. It creates new jobs, new opportunities, and new industries—as I’ve explained repeatedly in my work on economic growth and technology.

AI can empower:

• teachers with better tools
• doctors with sharper diagnostics
• parents with improved monitoring and safeguards
• small businesses with capabilities once limited to Fortune 500 firms
• entrepreneurs with lower startup costs

Politicians frame AI as a threat to children and jobs. In reality, political overreach is the threat—not the technology.

Why a Federal Moratorium Is Necessary—for Now

I’m no fan of Washington micromanagement. But when states begin passing contradictory, constitutionally questionable laws that strangle interstate commerce and innovation, a temporary federal pause becomes the lesser evil.

Otherwise, the U.S. will repeat the disaster of California’s CAFE standards, where one state distorted the entire nation’s auto market and made cares more expensive for everyone. A patchwork of 50 incompatible AI regimes would be even worse.

AI isn’t a local zoning matter. It’s core to:

• national security
• interstate commerce
• global economic leadership
• the future of work
• innovation and entrepreneurship

A short-term federal moratorium is not about controlling AI—it’s about preventing states from crippling innovation before the country fully understands the technology.

Meanwhile, China Isn’t Slowing Down

While Texas and other states push fear-based restrictions, China continues racing ahead in AI and robotics. But as the Wall Street Journal recently noted in a recent piece on China’s robot boom, the appearance of progress masks deep structural problems. Their surge in automation reflects demographic decline, state coercion, and misallocated capital.

Still, Beijing is moving fast, and America will not win by second-guessing ourselves to death.
As I argued in my recent commentary on China’s misguided industrial push, America’s strength isn’t central planning—it’s free people, free markets, and open competition.

We don’t beat China by copying their control.

We beat China by unleashing our creativity.

My Take

Texas lawmakers mean well, but they’re wrong. Overregulating AI today will harm:

• families
• entrepreneurs
• small businesses
• national competitiveness
• the very children they claim to protect

The federal moratorium is a temporary brake on a runaway train of fear-based policymaking. Texas should use this moment to peel back its flawed AI rules and return to the pro-growth, limited-government principles that once made this state the envy of the world.

AI is part of our future.

Liberty—not regulation—is the best way to shape it.

Let’s get back to trusting people, empowering parents, and letting innovation drive prosperity.
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That’s how we let people prosper—even in the age of AI.