Kerry Gallivan is the founder of the Portland-based national park travel app Chimani.

Across the country, state legislators are proposing — and passing — new laws regulating AI. While well-intentioned, these efforts could create serious challenges for small app developers like me. If every state makes its own rules, we’ll have to navigate a complex maze of requirements — raising compliance costs, slowing innovation and making it harder to serve our customers.

We’d be much better served by a national AI law that both ensures consumers’ security and gives developers clear, uniform standards. Let me explain.

I’m the founder of a Maine-based company that helps people plan trips to national parks. When I started my company in 2010, I was running IT for MSAD 75 and wanted to combine my love of the outdoors with my interest in emerging smartphone technology, which was changing how people traveled.

The goal was simple: to bring high-quality national park guidebook content into a mobile app. We focused on making it easier for people to explore America’s national parks — from Acadia to Yellowstone. Today, our small team has built an app that’s been downloaded over 4 million times — proof that even small businesses can use technology to deliver big impact.

Recently, we’ve started adding AI features to make our app even more helpful. The app can ask users about their travel preferences — like how active they want to be, when they like to start their day or whether they’re looking for kid-friendly activities — then use AI to create personalized itineraries.

We’ve also introduced an AI-powered guide that works completely offline, right on a visitor’s device. This means travelers can still access essential information even when they’re far from cell service. As parks like Acadia become more popular, these features help visitors find what they need quickly and enjoy a smoother, more positive experience.

Here’s the challenge: as a Maine-based app serving people nationwide, we’re subject to rules from every state where our users live. And as more states pass AI regulations, we’ll be forced to juggle different — and sometimes conflicting — requirements. Lawmakers don’t even agree on what counts as “AI,” what activities should be regulated or which businesses need to comply.

Some states have already adopted rules that — though well-intentioned — could create compliance costs too high for small businesses to manage. The Colorado AI Act, for instance, requires some AI-powered businesses to assess and report how their AI systems could be used for discriminatory purposes and how they’re mitigating those risks.

In the European Union, similar requirements can cost tens of thousands of dollars to implement. That’s a major expense — and if it’s multiplied across numerous states, many small developers won’t be able to keep up. That will stifle innovation and mean only the largest corporations are able to compete.

Different state laws could also mean that Americans’ access to services varies depending on where they live. Under some current and proposed state laws, companies like mine might have to adjust or disable key AI features depending on users’ locations. That would be tough to implement and mean some users get a lower-quality experience. While that might be a frustrating inconvenience for vacation planning, imagine the consequences if the same barriers applied to health care or financial tools.

Let me be clear: AI must be regulated to prevent real harms, from discrimination to privacy violations. Small businesses like mine want to follow strong, practical guardrails. But those guardrails need to be consistent, clear and affordable.

It’s time for national standards that both protect Americans from AI’s risks and ensure everyone can benefit from its opportunities. That way, small businesses can keep innovating and consumers can enjoy safe, reliable and consistent services.

Lawmakers in Washington, including Maine’s delegation, should step up and create a uniform, practical AI policy framework before inconsistent rules slow innovation and limit access to this technology.