Colorado legislature approves delaying state AI act by five months

The Colorado state legislature on Tuesday voted to delay implementing the Colorado AI Act, the state’s high-risk artificial intelligence legislation, until the end of June next year, five months after the law was supposed to go into effect.

The decision comes shortly after Gov. Jared Polis called lawmakers back to the capitol for a special legislative session starting Aug. 21, amid criticism that it would stifle innovation and balloon tech companies’ budgets. The concerns were based on bill language that critics have argued is vague and could needlessly hamper low-risk AI systems.

“The amendment passed by the Colorado Senate to delay enforcement of the Colorado AI Act is a constructive step that affords stakeholders the opportunity to work together to get the state’s approach to AI policy right,” Meghan Pensyl, director of policy at Business Software Alliance, a global trade association that represents large technology companies that began an opposition campaign in February after the bill was introduced, said in an emailed statement. “The proposed deal that had been circulated during the Colorado legislature’s special session fell short. Colorado now has an opportunity to craft clearer, more practical rules for high-risk AI that build public trust in technology and support AI adoption across the economy.”

The Artificial Intelligence Act, which Polis signed in 2024, would be the first state law in the U.S. to regulate high-risk AI systems in areas like hiring, lending, housing, insurance and government services.

The law, which was originally to take effect next February, requires companies to conduct bias risk assessments, notify users when AI is involved in consequential decisions and provide an appeals process for those adversely affected.

Travis Hall, director for state engagement at the Center for Democracy and Technology, expressed disappointment in seeing the legislation delayed.

“Coloradans should not be made to wait to understand how opaque algorithms are being used to make consequential decisions about their lives and livelihoods,” Hall told StateScoop in an emailed statement. “CDT stands ready to help work towards possible changes to the law in a way that will still protect Colorado’s consumers and workers.”