Why the term appears here In the channel's material on AI governance, patchwork quilt regulation is the picture that emerges when each state sets its own AI rules instead of a single national framework. Governor Phil Murphy argues that this is exactly what the country should avoid: leaving states as the regulatory nexus is, in his words, a mistake, and the US needs a national framework — if not an international one[^a4e2cb1a-b533-59c5-9766-cc27d015e765@79]. The argument in his own words Leaving states as the regulatory nexus is a mistake... we need a national framework, if not an international one. The broader governance question The term sits inside a larger debate about who should regulate AI — states, the federal government, or international bodies — and how government itself should use the technology, including New Jersey's effort to train state workers and improve public services with generative AI[^a4e2cb1a-b533-59c5-9766-cc27d015e765@23]. Exploring both sides helps you understand what a state-by-state patchwork would mean for people who live and work across those differing rules. - Patchwork quilt regulation describes state-by-state AI rules rather than one unified framework.- Governor Murphy argues the patchwork approach is a mistake; he calls for a national — if not international — framework[^a4e2cb1a-b533-59c5-9766-cc27d015e765@79].- The term connects to the wider question of who should regulate AI and how government should use it[^a4e2cb1a-b533-59c5-9766-cc27d015e765@23].