AI Localism - Counter Imaginaries from City AI Governance

Abstract

Local governments across the United States have quietly become frontline regulators of artificial intelligence (AI), advancing governance efforts that both fill gaps in federal oversight and contest dominant national and industry imaginaries. Drawing on 77 policies from 55 cities and counties, this study uses qualitative content analysis to analyze policy documents for their targeted AI domains and the values and priorities they articulate. Results identify three overarching counter‑imaginaries—democratic oversight, rights‑oriented governance, and place-based alignment—that structure how local governments define problems, justify intervention, and envision desirable AI‑enabled futures. These findings highlight local AI governance as a critical site of policy innovation and democratic negotiation, with implications for how federal frameworks, preemption debates, and industry practices might better account for situated harms, community priorities, and the plural values that shape AI’s integration into public life.