After two years of contentious debate, Colorado lawmakers passed Senate Bill 189 on 12 May 2026 — a bill that repeals and replaces the state's original 2024 AI Act with significantly scaled-back requirements and a delayed enforcement date.¹²

What changed from the original law

Colorado's 2024 AI Act required companies, governments, and other organisations developing or deploying AI to disclose how their systems help make consequential decisions — such as those affecting hiring, loans, or housing.³⁴ Senate Bill 189 replaces that disclosure requirement with a simpler obligation: notify consumers when AI is being used to make a consequential decision about them, and give them an opportunity to appeal.²³

The original Act had been set to come into effect on 30 June 2026. SB 189 pushes that start date back to January 2027.⁴⁵

Bipartisan support

The bill passed with broad bipartisan backing — 57-6 in the House and 34-1 in the Senate.² The measure now heads to Governor Jared Polis, who has said he will sign it into law.³

Why Colorado pulled back

The Colorado Sun described the outcome as the end of a fierce two-year fight over AI regulation, concluding with a watered-down law.¹ Critics of the original legislation argued that extensive disclosure requirements placed undue burdens on businesses and risked driving AI companies out of the state.⁷ Advocates for stronger rules argued the rewrite weakened consumer protections at a critical moment in AI governance.⁶

National context

Colorado's rewrite comes as states across the US grapple with how aggressively to regulate AI, amid pressure from the federal government to stand down.⁸ The White House released a National Policy Framework for AI in March 2026 that called on Congress to preempt state AI laws it deemed to impose undue burdens on innovation.⁸⁹

California's Transparency in Frontier AI Act remains one of the most stringent state-level frameworks, while New York's Governor signed amendments to the state's RAISE Act in March 2026, shifting it toward a transparency and reporting-based model.¹⁰

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Colorado Rewrites Its Landmark AI Law, Scaling Back Disclosure Mandates and Pushing Enforcement to 2027