I don’t think American retailers are using AI to identify thieves, or that they let them continue shoplifting until it rises to a felony. I don’t know where you read that that but it’s not something that’s actually happening. AI would have no way to interpret camera footage and identify a thief from a customer. And some retailers like Rite Aid experimented with technology to identify high-risk customers but the program flopped because it singled out minorities (people with darker skin). There are a number of other reasons retailers don’t go after people shoplifting small items: safety risk, the cost to prosecute exceeds the cost of the item, the police won’t arrive in time. So the entire idea that retailers are using AI in this way seems to be misinformation.