Published in The Columbus Dispatch.
The Right to Compute Act might sound abstract, but it’s about something every Ohioan should care deeply about: the freedom to think, build and innovate with the tools of the modern age.
Over the past two years, states have raced to regulate artificial intelligence — which is just another way of saying “advanced computing.”
More than 1,000 AI-related bills have been introduced nationwide, from deepfake bans to rules for “high-risk” algorithms.
Some are necessary; others risk overreach.What’s often missing in these debates is a simple baseline: the recognition that Americans have a fundamental right to use computers — to access and apply computational power — without government permission or arbitrary limits.
That’s what Montana affirmed earlier this year when it became the first jurisdiction in the world to enact a Right to Compute Act.
The law guarantees that individuals and organizations can own and use computational resources — hardware, software, algorithms, even quantum systems — unless the government can show a compelling reason to restrict them. It pairs that freedom with sensible guardrails for critical infrastructure, requiring companies to follow national safety frameworks like NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework.
Now Ohio has the opportunity to join Montana.
The Buckeye State is already a computing powerhouse.
The Data center corridor outside Columbus is home to Amazon Web Services, Google and Meta facilities.
Intel’s $20 billion chip-manufacturing investment near New Albany promises to make Ohio a global center for advanced computation. Universities like Ohio State and Case Western Reserve are training the next generation of AI researchers and engineers.
But this promise comes with risk.
Technology could be restricted
Some lawmakers in other states are flirting with laws that restrict access to computing power based on who you are, how much you use or what you’re building.
California and New York have floated measures to license AI developers or cap computing use at arbitrary thresholds. President Biden’s now-revoked Executive Order 14110 tried to impose federal controls on AI development based on the number of chips in a server — an approach copied from Europe’s more bureaucratic AI Act.
Without a clear right to compute, Ohio’s innovators could face the same uncertainty.
Entrepreneurs and researchers need to know that they can build, experiment and scale without the rug being pulled out from under them by a regulator who suddenly decides their computer is “too powerful.” It also protects the rights of individual citizens to use and operate computers from the smartphone to the home server.
The Right to Compute Act is not a “hands-off” approach to AI.
Act will ensure balance
It simply restores constitutional balance: The government must justify restrictions, not the other way around. Fraud, deception and harassment remain illegal, and critical-infrastructure systems must still follow recognized safety standards.
For Ohioans, this means economic growth grounded in freedom. The same principles that made this state a manufacturing and research leader in the 20th century can make it a leader in 21st-century innovation.
A legal guarantee of computational freedom tells investors, students and entrepreneurs alike: Ohio is open for building.
This isn’t a partisan idea.
Montana’s version passed with strong bipartisan support. Protecting lawful access to computational tools is a practical step toward ensuring that AI and advanced computing benefit everyone, from small businesses in Dayton to students at Ohio State and farmers using smart equipment in rural counties.
Ohio can set global standard
History teaches that rights are easiest to defend before they’re lost.
Just as free speech protections had to be reaffirmed for the internet age, the right to compute updates a timeless principle for a new era: Citizens, not bureaucracies, should decide how they use their tools of thought.
If Ohio enacts this law, it won’t just follow Montana’s example, it will set a global standard for freedom, innovation and competitiveness.
Legislators should seize this opportunity to keep the Buckeye State at the forefront of America and the world’s technological future.
In a world where governments are beginning to decide who may compute and who may not, Ohio can send a clear message: In this state, the power to think, build and innovate belongs to the people.