Status: Signed into law by Governor Jared Polis on May 14, 2026 (passed Senate 34-1, House 57-6 on May 9, 2026). Effective January 1, 2027.
Bill Number: Colorado SB 26-189 (repeals and replaces SB 24-205)
Jurisdiction: Colorado
Category: AI Governance, Automated Decision-Making, Consumer Disclosure
Industries: Employment, Housing, Healthcare, Education, Financial Services, Insurance, and any operator using automated decision-making technology in consequential decisions affecting Colorado consumers
Enacted Date: May 14, 2026
Effective Date: January 1, 2027 (applies to decisions made on or after that date)
Summary: Colorado SB 26-189 repeals and reenacts SB 24-205, the original Colorado AI Act. The 2024 statute — the first comprehensive state-level AI bias law in the country — was widely criticized as the most burdensome AI compliance regime in the United States. After a federal court paused enforcement on April 27, 2026 and a multi-stakeholder workgroup convened by Governor Polis recommended a narrower approach, the legislature passed SB 26-189 on May 9, 2026 in a bipartisan rewrite. Governor Polis signed the bill on May 14, 2026. The replacement statute drops the original’s duty of care, algorithmic impact assessments, and comprehensive risk management programs in favor of a narrower automated decision-making technology (ADMT) framework focused on consumer disclosure, post-adverse-outcome explanations, correction rights, and meaningful human review.
Key Changes from the Original Colorado AI Act:
- Narrower Scope: Replaces the broad “high-risk artificial intelligence system” definition with “covered automated decision-making technology” (ADMT) that processes personal data to materially influence a consequential decision.
- Eliminated Requirements: Drops the duty of care, annual algorithmic impact assessments, and comprehensive risk management program obligations.
- New Consumer-Facing Obligations: Targeted consumer disclosures, post-adverse-outcome explanations, consumer correction rights, and meaningful human review of significant ADMT-driven decisions.
- Delayed Effective Date: Pushes the effective date from June 30, 2026 (under the prior amendment SB 25B-004) to January 1, 2027.
- Mandatory Rulemaking: Colorado Attorney General must complete implementing rulemaking by January 1, 2027.
Affected Entities: Developers and deployers of automated decision-making technology that processes personal data to materially influence consequential decisions affecting Colorado consumers. Coverage extends across employment, housing, healthcare, education, financial services, and insurance contexts.
Compliance Outlook: SB 26-189 is widely viewed as a more workable baseline for AI deployers than the original Colorado AI Act. Organizations that built compliance programs around the original SB 24-205 will need to recalibrate — the burden shifts from extensive internal governance documentation to consumer-facing disclosure and review processes. The federal court enforcement pause on SB 24-205 effectively means Colorado operators have a clean runway to build to the new January 1, 2027 standard. AG rulemaking through 2026 will determine the operational specifics; organizations should monitor and participate in that process.
IntelliSee Relevance: Adjacent. Colorado SB 26-189 regulates automated decision-making technology that materially influences consequential decisions about consumers — an entirely different use case than IntelliSee’s real-time camera analytics for physical safety. IntelliSee does not make decisions about employment, housing, credit, education, or healthcare; the platform detects visible safety events (firearms, falls, unauthorized access, aggressive behavior) and alerts designated responders. It does not produce “consequential decisions” within the meaning of ADMT statutes. The statute is nonetheless relevant context for Colorado security leaders evaluating layered AI procurement: visual safety analytics like IntelliSee sit outside ADMT regulation, while adjacent AI products (workforce scheduling, predictive policing, automated incident triage) increasingly fall within it. See the State-by-State AI Security Legislation Tracker for the full Colorado regulatory map.