Colorado Lawmakers to Consider 4 AI Bills in Special Session

Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez (D) and Rep. Brianna Titone (D), who co-authored the Colorado AI Act, submitted a proposal containing several concessions to industry and consumer groups. The Rodriguez-Titone approach would allow the AI law to take effect as written in Feburary 2026.

A Republican bill seeks to extend the effective date to 2027, and another Republican proposal would repeal the Colorado AI Act in favor of updating the state’s anti-discrimination statute.

Gov. Jared Polis (D) and Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) have made public statements suggesting lawmakers should consider the law’s impact on AI innovation during the special session (see 2508060055). The Chamber of Progress, the Colorado Technology Association and the Colorado Bankers Association are among industry groups that pushed for the special session.

In a statement to Privacy Daily on Tuesday, Titone said her colleagues' other three proposals, including a bipartisan measure, are overly generous to business interests. Only one of the proposals -- Rodriguez-Titone -- is “a thoughtful piece of legislation that has the spirit of helping consumers against AI,” she said. “We have pared the [existing law] down to accommodate the concerns of AI deployers and to make it easier on developers.”

Titone highlighted that her bill removes “most developer disclosure obligations,” the deployer risk management program requirement, the deployer impact assessment requirement, the right to appeal, the deployer’s duty to report discrimination risks to the attorney general and the “duty of care to prevent algorithmic discrimination for both developers and deployers.” She listed several changes requested by consumer groups, including changes to covered AI decisions, developer disclosures, principal factor and variable disclosures and changes to data deletion and correction rights.

On enforcement, the bill clarifies that a violation is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. Also, under the bill, “a developer and deployer of a system are jointly and severally liable for a violation of any law that results from the deployer's use of the developer's system.” The proposal would authorize the attorney general to make rules.

Democratic Reps. William Lindstedt and Michael Carter and Sen. Judith Amabile introduced a bipartisan bill with Sen. Lisa Frizell (R). That bill would require disclosures when a consumer is interacting with AI in certain circumstances. In addition, it would authorize the AG to bring claims against AI developers or deployers that use an AI system in a way that violates the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, a bill summary said.

Also, the bill would require that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law apply to AI developers. “An individual may file a complaint with the Colorado civil rights division against the developer if the developer's artificial intelligence system discriminates against the individual in certain circumstances,” the summary said. In addition, it would require public contracts related to AI to comply with the state’s consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws. The measure would authorize the AG to make rules. If enacted, much of the bill could take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

Titone said the bipartisan bill, which she termed the “Big Tech Immunity Act,” would strip a consumer’s ability to enforce their rights against unfair and deceptive trade practices.

A proposal by Sen. Mark Baisley (R) would repeal the Colorado AI Act and declare that “prohibitions on discrimination contained in Colorado law apply regardless of whether the challenged conduct is executed, facilitated, or scaled by means of a digital, automated, algorithmic, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other technological process.”

A separate bill from Rep. Ron Weinberg (R) proposes narrowing the law’s definition of "consequential decisions" to decisions related to employment or public safety. The original law considers several other kinds of decisions consequential, including those related to education, finance, health care, housing and insurance. Also, Weinberg’s bill would exempt businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenue and local governments with fewer than 100,000 residents. And it would delay the effective date to Aug. 1, 2027.

“Will the legislature get one across the finish line, buy themselves more time by just extending the deadline, or fail to pass any changes?” asked Shook Hardy attorney in a LinkedIn post Monday. “Time is running short -- it will be a whirlwind session.”