Gov. Jared Polis loves artificial intelligence to death

By Jon Caldara

Disclosure: Gov. Jared Polis wrote much of this column.

The epitaph on Jared Polis’ gubernatorial gravestone will simply read, “He knew better, but would not stand up to his own party.”

For seven years, our hyperprogressive legislature has sent him one industry-killing bill after another. And he kept signing them, even when he knows they are bad policy, economically devastating, and even if they go against his strongest-held convictions.

One such strongly held conviction is his faith in technology.

In the tech world, the man’s no slouch. As much as I’d like to tease Polis for just being a rich kid who got richer putting his momma’s greeting-card company online, the fact is he made fortunes many times over in varied tech ventures. And most importantly, he understands what the coming artificial intelligence revolution can bring for humanity in general, but also the endless opportunities it could bring Colorado in particular.

So then why did he agree to make Colorado the first state in the nation to effectively stamp out AI development by signing Senate Bill 24-205? This law will repel AI companies from providing us their services or locating here. The AI revolution could skip Colorado.

SB-205 was designed by the “we see oppression even before it exists” crowd. They are going to stamp out discrimination from — get this — software code. Starting next year, the law outlaws “algorithmic discrimination” in AI with ridiculously costly compliance regulations.

Polis clearly laid out why 205 is terrible law in what read like a veto statement. But, since he can’t veto much of anything, he crapped all over the bill in — get this — his bill-signing statement.

So, let’s let his own words explain why he shouldn’t have signed it.

Polis noted laws against discrimination focus on intentional efforts, writing, “This bill deviates from that practice by regulating the results of AI systems use, regardless of intent.”

He’s right. A baseball bat can be used in a hate crime, but the bat manufacturer didn’t intend it for that. There are already myriad laws, regulations and codes against discrimination. If AI is used to discriminate, shouldn’t we employ all that existing legal enforcement first?

The law doesn’t target outcomes — it regulates computer code that doesn’t even exist yet. Liberals used to say code is speech and therefore protected. Those liberals are extinct.

Polis goes on to say the new law will, “create a complex compliance regime for all developers and deployers of AI” through “significant, affirmative reporting requirements.”

Again, he is right. One reason the internet turned into the economic super engine it is was early on the feds had a “hands off the internet” policy to let the industry first develop. Now Colorado is the first state with a “hands all over AI” policy while it is in its infancy. Those hands will strangle this baby.

Small, innovative AI developers will be the first driven out of Colorado. It’s confusing how the left hates big business yet builds regulatory regimes that only big businesses can afford to navigate. Add it to the list of how progressives hate the little guy.

Polis knew this law is an economy killer: “I am concerned about the impact this law may have on an industry that is fueling critical technological advancements across our state for consumers and enterprises alike.”

“Government regulation that is applied at the state level in a patchwork across the country can have the effect to tamper innovation and deter competition in an open market. To that end, the important work of protecting customers from discrimination and other unintended consequences of nascent AI technologies is better considered and applied by the federal government.”

Again, he’s right. Ironically, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill had a 10-year “hands off AI” moratorium — a smart move Polis supported. But leave it to Republicans to strip it out.

Polis understands why what he signed is horrid. That’s why he included a call for fixing, delaying or repealing SB24-205 in the upcoming special session.

For the sake of Colorado, free speech and a better future where America isn’t at the mercy of China’s AI, I hope Polis spends the political capital needed to fix his obvious regret.

He built his fortune online, but now he’s logging off Colorado’s AI future.