Cyclists don’t break traffic laws any more than drivers, says new stuy

You may be confusing "stopping" and "slowing down". You can do the second without the first.

Several states in the US have laws on the books allowing bikers to conditionally ignore stop signs, but typically to "downgrade" a stop sign to a yield sign. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop

The basic premise is that because a bike is slow enough, and the stopping distance of a bike at speed is short enough, a bike can approach an intersection, make a judgment call on if they need to stop, and if they don't expect to get hit, they can cross without coming to a full stop first like a car does.

Cyclist are only required to yield to anyone already in the intersection.

It's generally treated as a yield in states where bikes don't have to stop at stop signs. If there's no cars or other bikes, they go. Obviously you still stop if other cars/bikes are approaching a four way or are in the intersection.