TRUMP DOJ SIDES WITH ELON MUSK AND KILLS COLORADO AI LAW IN FEDERAL COURT — STATE FOLDS, REPLACES LAW WITH A SHELL Colorado spent years building what was supposed to be the nation’s toughest state AI law. It was supposed to require companies to prevent algorithmic discrimination, run risk assessments, and answer to a state attorney general with real teeth. That law is now dead, killed not in a legislature but in a federal courtroom, and the killing was done with help from the White House. Elon Musk’s xAI filed suit in April challenging Colorado’s AI Act on constitutional grounds, arguing the law violated the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause. The Trump Justice Department did something unprecedented. It moved to intervene and support xAI’s position, marking the first time the federal government has taken sides in a lawsuit challenging a state AI law. A federal magistrate judge then blocked enforcement entirely. Colorado did not fight. The state legislature quickly replaced the original law with a gutted version, Senate Bill 189, that drops the anti-discrimination requirements, eliminates mandatory risk assessments, and pushes the effective date to 2027. What remains is a notice-only framework with no private right of action. The message to every other state with AI legislation in the works is unmistakable. The Trump administration is prepared to use the courts to stop state AI regulation before it takes hold. Keywords: Colorado AI law, xAI lawsuit, DOJ AI regulation, AI state laws, Trump AI policy