Report from Colorado Newsline
In Brief – Colorado, which was the first state to enact comprehensive “AI Safety” legislation when it did so in 2024, was set to see it finally go into in go into effect in June, but instead the law has been frozen by a court challenge and a major legislative rethink. In response to tech industry opposition to the landmark AI law since its enactment, as well as a court challenge by xAI that recently resulted in a federal district court judge pausing its enforcement, Colorado lawmakers have introduced new legislation, Senate Bill 26-189, to repeal and replace the original statute. The new, narrower framework is focused on “automated decision-making technology” used in consequential decisions related to an individual’s compensation, eligibility for and access to education, employment, housing, financial services, insurance and health care. The bill shifts away from extensive risk-management obligations and anti-discrimination duties, instead emphasizing documentation, consumer notice, transparency, and rights to human review and the correction of inaccurate data. Enforcement would remain solely with the attorney general under Colorado consumer protection law, with no private right of action.
Context – The Trump Administration’s commitment to AI investment and innovation to compete with China has pushed AI policy away from “AI safety” and in the direction of deregulation in all major markets. Even the EU, with its highly regulatory AI Act, is making changes to delay implementation of some rules and exempt industrial machinery altogether. Ironically, while Colorado is pulling back, a growing number of US states are moving in the other direction. Last year, the Trump Administration tried to push through Congress a five-year moratorium on state AI regulation, but several stridently anti-Big Tech Republicans joined with united Democrats to block the effort. The Administration has most recently released a legislative framework to establish national AI policy and preempt state-level AI regulation but political divisions and competing legislative priorities pose huge challenges.