A quiet insurgency is taking shape in state capitals across the U.S., aimed squarely at the invisible math that decides how much people pay for everything from rent to flights. While Washington wrestles with its own artificial-intelligence battles, state lawmakers are charging forward with proposals to choke off the most aggressive forms of data-driven pricing—those that make consumers feel like they’re bargaining with a ghost who already knows their wallet.
This surge of action echoes the earlier crusades of regulators who argued that algorithmic price-setting had crossed into the realm of manipulation. The momentum hasn’t slowed. “Even as the federal government backslides, states are stepping up,” said Lina Khan, now helping guide policy thinking for New York City’s incoming administration. Her focus: finding every lever hidden in state law that can force prices back into the real world.
They may need those levers soon. A draft executive order circulating in Washington shows the White House eyeing ways to shut down state-level AI rules by tying them to funding and lawsuits. But the states are already moving.
New York has outlawed landlord collusion through pricing algorithms. California went further, banning algorithmic collusion altogether. And they’re not alone—nineteen states are now weighing limits on third-party software that taps competitor data to shape rental prices, according to a new analysis by the American Economic Liberties Project.
For advocates, the fight comes down to transparency. “You can’t talk about affordability without understanding how prices are set,” said Lee Hepner of AELP. And right now, those prices are being sculpted by tools operating faster—and often more opaquely—than any traditional market dynamic.
This is not a partisan rebellion. In Utah, a Republican lawmaker is preparing a bill to reclaim consumer control over the personal data companies inhale and convert into pricing power. That data—your browsing habits, your past purchases, even the digital breadcrumbs of what you watch—has become a gold mine for retailers aiming offers like heat-seeking missiles.
But for critics, there’s a darker twist: the same data can be used to quietly raise prices on individuals based on who algorithms think they are. Investigations have already uncovered travel sites delivering pricier hotel listings to shoppers in wealthier cities. Even major airlines have landed under the microscope for exploring AI-guided price strategies—assurances notwithstanding.
The fear, put simply: a marketplace where two people see two different prices not because the market changed, but because the system judged one of them as more lucrative.
“Ultimately we are concerned about different people paying different prices based on who a company thinks they are,” said Grace Gedye of Consumer Reports.
For now, the states are standing their ground, chipping away at a world where pricing is no longer a number—but a mirror reflecting back everything companies think they know about you.
