In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, host Ashley Taylor is joined by Colorado Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez and Troutman Pepper Locke Privacy + Cyber partner David Stauss for an in‑depth discussion of the Colorado AI Act — widely viewed as the nation’s first comprehensive legislative framework focused on high‑risk AI systems and algorithmic discrimination. Senator Rodriguez explains how Colorado’s work on consumer privacy laid the groundwork for AI regulation and walks through the origins, goals, and core provisions of the Act, including its emphasis on transparency, risk assessments, and protecting consumers in sectors such as employment, housing, health care, education, finance, and government services.
Stauss situates the Colorado AI Act within the rapidly evolving state, federal, and international AI landscape, describing how lawmakers have sought to avoid a “Wild West” of conflicting state requirements by coordinating through a multi-state work group, and how that effort mirrors the development of state privacy laws. The conversation then turns to answer practical questions companies are asking — how to approach and structure AI risk assessments, the role of attorney-client privilege, how state attorneys general are likely to enforce these laws, and how to navigate growing tensions between state innovation and federal preemption efforts, including reported moves by the Trump administration to curb state AI regulations.