Arizona’s AV regulatory experience highlights broader trends in politics and governance. Assertion of place-based political identities, reflecting a growing urban-rural political divide, may complicate statewide regulatory harmonization around the country. In general, pro-innovation ideas can be seen as economic conservatism, but backlash and skepticism against new technologies and the ‘big tech’ corporations that develop them span the political spectrum. While Arizona’s experience of regulating AVs illustrates the functionality of bipartisan governance, new lessons may be hard learned as innovation continues to evolve more rapidly than policy – and politics – can understand and react.
Hartley, Kris. (2025). “Policymakers tread the swirling waters of AI innovation.” Arizona Technology Council, 24 Sept.