Technology

xAI sues Colorado over new AI law

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by Sophie Brams - 04/09/26 10:33 PM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 04/09/26 10:33 PM ET

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Billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is suing Colorado over a new state law that seeks to regulate the rapidly evolving technology.

The company, xAI, filed a lawsuit against Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) on Thursday, seeking to block enforcement of a 2024 law that requires developers of “high-risk” systems to protect consumers against “algorithmic discrimination” in education, employment, housing and other sectors.

Musk’s company argued the statute “severely burdens the development and use of AI” and infringes on First Amendment free speech protections.

“Its provisions prohibit developers of AI systems from producing speech that the State of Colorado dislikes, while compelling them to conform their speech to a State-enforced orthodoxy on controversial topics of great public concern,” the lawsuit states.

The company further claimed that Colorado’s law would force it to alter its AI chatbot, Grok, to “conform to a controversial, highly politicized viewpoint” rather than maintain its objectivity.

The European Union has launched a probe into Grok’s parent company, the social platform X, over whether it properly “assessed and mitigated risks,” including the generation and spread of deep-faked sexually explicit images, when it deployed the bot. Grok has separately drawn criticism for using hateful and antisemitic language.

The xAI lawsuit comes amid an intensifying debate over whether AI should be regulated at the state or federal level as lawmakers race to craft rules around the growing industry.

The Trump administration has pushed for a federal framework, arguing that a patchwork of state legislation could hamper innovation and undermine America’s position in the global AI race.

“There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social in December. “We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won’t last long if we are going to have 50 States, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS.”

The Colorado attorney general’s office has not publicly commented on the lawsuit, which asks the court to declare the law unconstitutional.

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