Colorado lawmakers send new AI bill to the governor - Axios

Ah, Colorado lawmakers have perfected the art of legislative pre-emptive capitulation. They've sent a rewritten AI bill to Governor Polis that effectively guts the original 2024 law before it even took effect. The original law, passed with bipartisan fanfare, required impact assessments and imposed liability for algorithmic harms. But now, in a move that would make a chicken look brave, lawmakers have replaced all that with a 'lighter disclosure-focused approach' — which in translation means: 'Don't worry, tech companies, we won't actually do anything.' Industry lobbyists must be popping Champers.

The bill's trajectory is a masterclass in regulatory capture. The 2024 law was supposed to be a model for state-level oversight — Colorado's answer to California's privacy rules. But before it could even take effect, the same lawmakers who voted for it decided it was too much. They swapped mandatory audits for voluntary transparency reports and substituted binding rules with suggestions. The sponsors argue this creates 'flexibility' — a word that in legislative circles means 'we caved.'

So Colorado joins the grand tradition of states that pass laws and immediately neuter them, ensuring AI regulation remains a theoretical concept. The bill now sits with Polis, who will presumably sign it with a straight face, completing the circle of absurdity. Meanwhile, frontier labs continue their race to the bottom, and every other state watches this farce and takes notes. If this is what 'leadership' looks like, we might as well let the AIs write the next bill — they couldn't do worse.