Laws designed to make it harder to regulate AI and computing technology are quietly starting to spread through state legislatures. Conveniently, these so-called right-to-compute laws are emerging just as some of the world’s biggest corporations race to build massive new data centers.
Montana became the first state to pass such a law back in April. But as the AI and enterprise news outlet VKTR has pointed out, lawmakers in other states are also considering similar bills, including in New Hampshire, Ohio, and South Dakota. Meanwhile, a similar measure in Idaho failed to move beyond the committee stage.
“Government actions that restrict the ability to privately own or make use of computational resources for lawful purposes, which infringes on citizens’ fundamental rights to property and free expression, must be limited to those demonstrably necessary and narrowly tailored to fulfill a compelling government interest,” the Montana law reads.
The bill goes on to broadly define “computational resources” as covering “any tools, technologies, systems, or infrastructure, whether digital, analog, existing, or some other form” that facilitate computation, data processing, or storage.
Like right-to-work laws that frame themselves as protecting individual freedom, critics warn that right-to-compute statutes could, in practice, primarily benefit large corporations by limiting the ability of states and local governments to regulate AI projects.
The Montana law is also nearly identical to model legislation drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, meaning it could easily be replicated by lawmakers elsewhere.
“I would hope it would encourage other states to run with it to counter the fear-based narratives,” said Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, in online commentary.
The timing is notable. These laws are popping up as companies like Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI pour billions into AI infrastructure across the U.S.
Meta has even launched advertising campaigns in state capitols, including in Iowa, California, Utah, and Florida, pitching data center projects as job creators, the New York Times reported.
But these projects have not been without controversy. Google and Microsoft have withdrawn some data center proposals in Wisconsin and Indiana after community backlash over environmental concerns, grid strain, and higher electricity bills.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump, an AI and business ally, signed an executive order in December aimed at curbing what his administration describes as overly burdensome state regulations in the name of national and economic security.
Still, states aren’t backing off entirely. Nearly 40 states have passed or are considering laws limiting how businesses use AI, VKTR reported, citing the National Conference of State Legislatures.
