Foreign countries need not hold U.S. IP laws in regard. They can do what they want.
As such, when it comes to innovation, such as AI, over regulation in the U.S. only serves to prohibit U.S. based competition (and further innovation); stifling our competitive advantage over other countries, where entrepreneurs can simply copy what we've done, and accelerate from there.
Protection of startups means investing in infrastructure, education, and startup development organizations, to provide our innovators and founders with as much as possible to keep the country leading edge.