What is the Colorado AI Act effective date?
By the InTheory team · Updated November 2026
Colorado's current AI law, SB 26-189, starts applying its main requirements on January 1, 2027. Governor Polis signed it on May 14, 2026. It repealed and reenacted the earlier Colorado AI Act, SB 24-205, with new rules for automated decision-making technology used in consequential decisions. This is general information, not legal advice.
What changed from SB 24-205
SB 24-205, passed in 2024, created Colorado's first consumer protections for AI systems. SB 26-189 replaced those provisions. The new law focuses on automated decision-making technology that materially influences consequential decisions about education, employment, housing, financial or lending services, insurance, health care and essential government services. The Attorney General must adopt rules on some disclosure requirements by January 1, 2027.
Key dates for businesses
January 1, 2027: developer documentation duties and deployer obligations, such as notice to consumers, begin. Until January 1, 2030, the Attorney General must give a 60-day notice and opportunity to cure before bringing an action, where a cure is possible. The act does not create a new private right of action. Records showing compliance must be kept for at least three years.
If your business uses software that scores, ranks or recommends decisions about people in those areas, list those tools now and talk to a Colorado attorney about what applies. This page is not legal advice.