With the Colorado legislative session coming to its waning days, many have been eagerly waiting for Colorado AI Act amendment proposals. Absent an amendment, the Colorado AI Act will go into effect as-is on June 30, 2026. This week, the AI Policy Working Group (“Working Group”) released its Proposed Bill. The Working Group’s proposed framework would still need to be turned into a formal bill, introduced, and passed by the legislature before taking effect.
In connection with its release, Governor Polis expressed his support, stating he was “very grateful to the hardworking members of the Colorado AI Policy Working Group that have reached a unanimous agreement on AI policy to protect consumers and support innovation in our state.”
Some members of the Working Group, however, were less enthusiastic about the proposal even though it was advanced unanimously. For example, one of the original Colorado AI Act sponsors, Rep. Brianne Titone (D) of Arvada, stated, “while the voting members did agree, there were many caveats to their ‘yes’ votes. It’s a meaningful step forward, but only if the proposed bill can stay on this trajectory.”
Substantively, the Working Group’s proposal limits the scope to automated decision-making technology that processes personal data and takes a more streamlined approach for AI deployers than the current version of the Colorado AI Act, but it also scales back some exemptions. The new approach will almost certainly be the subject of heavy debate in the Colorado legislature.
On the national front, on March 18, 2026, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a discussion draft intended to spark congressional negotiations on a federal AI framework that prioritizes children’s online safety and creators’ copyright and publicity interests. The draft folds together provisions drawn from the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and earlier Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act (NO FAKES) proposals. In doing so, it also proposes requirements such as age verification, chatbot disclosures, provenance/watermarking standards, third-party bias audits, and a private right of action for certain harms to children.
The draft is explicitly a “discussion draft” intended to provide a negotiating position and to harmonize various existing proposals, so any expectations of quick passage of a federal bill should be curbed. But, given the federal government’s focus on preempting state laws (like the Colorado AI Act), the timing of Blackburn’s announcement highlights the upcoming clash between federal and state efforts to regulate the quickly advancing use of AI. At least for the foreseeable future, companies will need to keep an eye on these inevitable changes.