DOJ Joins Musk’s xAI Suit Against Colorado AI Discrimination Law

The Trump administration is joining Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI in its legal challenge to Colorado’s new state law that seeks to prevent discrimination by autonomous tools in employment and other areas.

The case filed this month in Denver federal court marks an emerging battleground between AI developers’ free speech rights and “algorithmic discrimination.”

The US Department of Justice said in a Friday court filing the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and has the effect of distorting AI model outputs and requiring developers to “discriminate based on race, sex, religion, and other protected characteristics.” The DOJ also argues that the law “jeopardizes the United States’ position as the global AI leader.”

Colorado’s law will regulate the way businesses use AI tools in high-stakes decisions affecting employment, health care, housing and other areas.

It will require transparency notices from employers, as well as bias assessments and monitoring from developers of AI technology and the businesses and government entities deploying those tools to aid with decisions such as hiring and firing.

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office declined to comment Friday.

The measure is the first state law of its kind and has been in the works for years. The law is set to take effect June 30.

The case is xAI v. Weiser, 1:26-cv-01515, US District Court, District of Colorado.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Madlin Mekelburg in Austin at mmekelburg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Ben Bain at bbain2@bloomberg.net

Peter Blumberg

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