Key takeaways: Montana has made ‘right to compute’ a fundamental right, allowing residents to use AI systems without government interventions.
Deployers will have to ensure a manual override on AI systems that run critical infrastructures.
The law lacks several provisions such as oversight body and penal provisions, which can lead to a lot of litigation once it comes into effect.
Montana has become the first US State to officially pass a ‘right to compute’ law, known as the Montana Right to Compute Act (MRTCA).
MRTCA gives Montana residents the right to use ‘computation resources’ on their private property without undue government intervention. This includes activities like running blockchain nodes, AI modeling, and distributed storage systems.
Section 3 of the MRTCA says that “Government actions that restrict the ability to privately own or make use of computational resources for lawful purposes must be limited to those demonstrably necessary and narrowly tailored to fulfill a compelling government interest.”
Careful reading of the section highlights the fact that the burden of proof has been put on the law enforcement agencies if they want to restrict an individual’s right to use computational resources. Any government intervention, if necessary, should be adequately argued by the authority.
Certain uses of such compute power have been classified as against ‘compelling government interest,’ including mechanisms that deceive or defraud the public, or activities involving the distribution of deepfakes and other harmful synthetic content that affect individuals, especially minors.
Senator Daniel Zolnikov, the proposer of MRTCA, was delighted on passing of the bill, calling it a key step in defending individual liberty. The Act will ensure that ‘every Montanan can access and control the tools of the future.’
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