AI Laws in Thornton, Colorado
AI Laws USA tracks 21 AI rules that apply to people and businesses in Thornton, Colorado: 10+ federal rules, 10 Colorado state-level rules, and 1 local Thornton ordinance. Coverage is strongest on automated decision-making, consumer protection, government use of AI, and insurance AI. 8 of these rules are already in effect. Each entry below links to its official source.
Thornton local AI rules (and Adams County County)
1 local AI rule specific to Thornton, Colorado or Adams County County.
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In effect Strength: moderate
Thornton CO 1-year data center moratorium (2026)
Thornton, CO · Effective September 22, 2026 · City of Thornton, Colorado — one-year data center moratorium (>50,000 sq ft), Sept. 22, 2026
Thornton, Colorado adopted a one-year timeout on new data centers on September 22, 2026 by a 5-3 City Council vote. The pause applies to any data center larger than 50,000 square feet and took effect immediately. The city's interim attorney said Thornton has one operating data center and no pending applications.
Colorado-level AI rules most relevant to Thornton
10 Colorado state rules apply to residents and businesses in Thornton. Showing the 8 most relevant to Thornton's local picture; 2 more are on the Colorado jurisdiction page.
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In effect Strength: limited
CO SB 17-213 (AV statute)
Colorado · Effective June 1, 2017 · Colo. Rev. Stat. § 42-4-242
Colorado authorized automated driving systems, allowing AVs that can comply with all traffic laws to operate without a separate state authorization — but if the ADS cannot fully comply, the operator must coordinate with CDOT and the State Patrol before deployment.
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Repealed / replaced
Colorado AI Act (repealed)
Colorado · Enacted May 17, 2024 · SB 24-205, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 6-1-1701 et seq. (repealed/replaced 2026)
The first comprehensive US state AI law would have required developers and deployers of 'high-risk' AI systems to use reasonable care to prevent algorithmic discrimination in decisions about jobs, housing, lending, insurance, education, and healthcare. After repeated delays, it was repealed and replaced in May 2026 by a narrower transparency-focused law (SB 26-189) before it ever took effect.
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Enacted (not yet in effect) Strength: limited
SB 26-189 (Colorado ADMT Law)
Colorado · Effective January 1, 2027 · SB 26-189 (Colo. 2026)
Colorado's replacement AI law focuses on transparency rather than broad anti-discrimination duties. Starting January 1, 2027, companies using automated decision-making technology to materially influence consequential decisions (employment, housing, lending, insurance, healthcare) must notify consumers before use and provide post-decision disclosures; developers must give deployers technical documentation.
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In effect Strength: limited
CO Insurance Algorithmic Discrimination Law
Colorado · Effective July 6, 2021 · Colo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 10-3-1104.9 (SB 21-169)
Colorado prohibits insurers from using outside consumer data, algorithms, or predictive models in ways that unfairly discriminate against people based on protected characteristics such as race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity. The law directs the state Insurance Commissioner to write rules that require insurers to test their data and models and show they do not produce discriminatory outcomes. Insurers must also maintain a risk-management framework to monitor for unfair discrimination. Coverage was later expanded to additional lines such as private passenger auto and health benefit plans.
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In effect Strength: limited
CO AG Weiser
CO · Effective April 27, 2026 · CO AG Weiser — Suspension of Colorado AI Act Rulemaking and Enforcement (x.AI v. Weiser) (2026-04-27)
AG entered joint motion to stay enforcement of SB 24-205 in xAI Corp. v. Weiser, No. 1:26-cv-01515-DDD-CYC (D. Colo.; Chief Judge Daniel D. Domenico; Magistrate Judge Cyrus Y. Chung). DOJ intervened on xAI's side April 24, 2026; federal court entered enforcement stay April 27, 2026. Colorado enacted SB 26-189 (signed May 14, 2026) to repeal and replace SB 24-205; enforcement suspended until rulemaking under new ADMT law by December 31, 2026.
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Proposed / pending
Colorado Attorney General Rulemaking for the Automated Decis
Colorado · Effective June 30, 2026 · Colorado Attorney General Rulemaking for the Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) Act and Chatbot Safety Act
The Colorado Attorney General's Office opened pre-rulemaking to write rules implementing the state's Automated Decision-Making Technology Act (algorithmic-discrimination protections for high-risk AI) and the Chatbot Safety Act, taking public comment through July 13, 2026 ahead of the laws' January 1, 2027 effective date.
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In effect Strength: limited
Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education
Colorado Department of Education · Effective August 1, 2024 · Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education
Colorado's education department (with the Colorado Education Initiative) published a statewide roadmap providing K-12 districts practical strategies and resources for integrating AI into teaching and learning.
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In effect Strength: limited
Colorado Privacy Act (CPA)
Colorado · Effective July 1, 2023 · Colo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 6-1-1301 et seq. (SB 21-190)
The Colorado Privacy Act gives state residents the right to opt out of having their personal data used for profiling when that profiling drives decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects, such as decisions about credit, housing, employment, or services. Businesses that engage in higher-risk processing, including certain profiling, must conduct and document a data protection assessment weighing the benefits against the risks. The Colorado Attorney General enforces the law, and since January 1, 2025 may bring actions without first offering a chance to cure.
Federal AI rules that apply in Thornton, Colorado
These federal rules apply everywhere in the United States, including Thornton, Colorado. Showing the 10 strongest and most recent.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TVA data center capacity commitment charge (2026)
Tennessee Valley Authority · Effective October 1, 2026 · Tenn. Valley Auth. Bd. of Dirs. — Data Center Capacity Commitment Charge (approved Aug. 20, 2026; eff. Oct. 1, 2026)
The Tennessee Valley Authority's Board of Directors approved a separate, higher wholesale rate for data centers on August 20, 2026, effective October 1. New or expanding data center loads above 5 megawatts now fall under a Capacity Commitment Charge attached to TVA's data center rate schedules, designed to recover the incremental capacity costs those customers impose on the system. The headline figures are substantial: upfront capacity commitment charges of roughly $1.5 million per megawatt, payable over three to five years, and an all-in average billing increase for data center customers of about 10%, phased in across three consecutive fiscal years. The stated purpose is to keep residential rates low while still serving growing data center demand. TVA matters here out of proportion to a single utility. It is a federal corporate agency supplying power across seven states, so this is not a state rate case but a regional cost-allocation decision reaching a large share of the Southeast — and TVA is among the first large US utilities to adopt a tariff aimed specifically at AI-driven load. Where most 2026 measures in this dataset restrict where data centers may be built, this one changes what they pay to run.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Bartz v. Anthropic
N.D. Cal. · Effective September 5, 2025 · Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417 (N.D. Cal.)
Authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson sued Anthropic over its use of pirated-book datasets to train Claude. In June 2025 Judge William Alsup ruled that training on lawfully purchased books was fair use. The piracy claims (LibGen ingestion) proceeded toward settlement; in September 2025 Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion class settlement covering ~500,000 works. Judge Alsup granted preliminary approval September 25, 2025 and final approval July 20, 2026. The appeal period runs through August 19, 2026; class members will not receive payments until at least end of 2026.
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In effect Strength: stronger
COPPA + 2025 Rule (childrens data)
United States · Effective June 23, 2025 · 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506; 16 C.F.R. Part 312
COPPA requires online services aimed at children under 13 to get verifiable parental consent before collecting kids' personal data. The 2025 rule update — fully in effect since April 22, 2026 — adds biometric identifiers (like face templates and voiceprints, which matter for AI tools), requires separate parental consent before sharing children's data for targeted advertising, and tightens data retention limits.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TAKE IT DOWN Act
United States · Effective May 19, 2025 · Pub. L. No. 119-12 (S. 146)
Makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images of someone without consent, including AI-generated deepfakes. Social media and similar platforms must give victims a way to request removal and must take the content (and known copies) down within 48 hours. The platform removal requirement became enforceable May 19, 2026, and the FTC has already begun enforcement.
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Blocked / in litigation
NetChoice v. Yost (Ohio)
S.D. Ohio · Effective April 16, 2025 · NetChoice, LLC v. Yost, No. 2:24-cv-00047 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 16, 2025)
Ohio's Social Media Parental Notification Act — requiring parental consent for minors' social-media use, including algorithmic feeds — was preliminarily enjoined on February 12, 2024, then permanently enjoined on April 16, 2025 when the district court granted summary judgment for NetChoice. The state appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which vacated the district court's injunction in 2026.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Thaler v. Perlmutter (Copyright)
D.C. Cir. · Effective March 18, 2025 · Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025)
The companion copyright case: Stephen Thaler sought to register a copyright with 'Creativity Machine' (his AI) as the author. The D.C. Circuit affirmed in March 2025 that the Copyright Act's human-authorship requirement is dispositive as a matter of statutory law. AI cannot be a copyright author under U.S. law.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Louis v. SafeRent
D. Mass. · Effective November 20, 2024 · Louis v. SafeRent Solutions, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-10800 (D. Mass.)
SafeRent agreed in November 2024 to a $2.275M settlement and a five-year ban on using its 'SafeRent Score' for housing-voucher applicants, after a class action alleged its AI tenant-screening tool systematically denied housing to Black and Hispanic Section 8 voucher holders. The first major AI tenant-screening Fair Housing Act settlement.
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In effect Strength: stronger
FTC Impersonation Rule (AI)
United States · Effective April 1, 2024 · 16 C.F.R. Part 461; 89 Fed. Reg. 15017
The FTC's Impersonation Rule lets the agency directly sue scammers who pretend to be a government agency or a real business — including those who use AI-cloned voices or generated images to do so. Civil penalties can reach $53,088 per violation. The FTC also issued a supplemental notice in February 2024 proposing to extend the rule to all individual impersonation.
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In effect Strength: stronger
FTC v. Rite Aid
FTC · Effective February 26, 2024 · FTC v. Rite Aid Corp., No. 2:23-cv-05023 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 19, 2023)
The FTC banned Rite Aid from using facial-recognition technology in its stores for five years after finding the pharmacy chain's FRT system falsely tagged customers — disproportionately women and people of color — as shoplifters, leading to wrongful detentions and humiliations.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TCPA (AI voice calls)
United States · Effective February 8, 2024 · 47 U.S.C. § 227; FCC 24-17
Robocalls using AI-cloned or AI-generated voices are treated like other 'artificial voice' calls: callers need your prior express consent, must identify themselves, and must offer opt-outs for telemarketing. You can personally sue violators for $500 to $1,500 per illegal call.
Frequently asked questions about AI laws in Thornton, Colorado
Are there AI laws in Thornton, Colorado?
What federal AI rules apply in Thornton?
Does Colorado have an AI privacy law?
Are deepfakes illegal in Colorado?
Can my employer use AI to screen me for jobs in Thornton?
How do I report an AI law violation in Thornton?
Are facial recognition cameras allowed in Thornton?
Is Thornton regulated by Colorado's consumer privacy act?
Compliance guides for Colorado businesses
Plain-English guides to the Colorado AI and data laws companies most often need to comply with:
Have we missed an AI rule in Thornton?
This page is generated from our open civic dataset. If you know of a Thornton ordinance, county rule, or local enforcement action we should add, email feedback@ailawsusa.com or submit a correction. Every entry must include a verifiable source.