AI law comparison · Data verified 2026-08-22
Colorado AI Act vs Montana Right to Compute Act
Colorado AI Act and Montana Right to Compute Act are two of the 169 AI and data regulations Aegis Firma tracks. They have different scopes, effective dates, and penalties — and many businesses fall under both. Here is the side-by-side, drawn directly from the regulatory registry.
Find which laws apply to my businessSide by side
Summary of publicly available regulatory text. Verify against current official sources before relying on this for compliance decisions. Not legal advice.
The key difference
Montana Right to Compute Act takes effect first, so it is usually the more urgent of the two. Colorado AI Act tracks 6 compliance requirements and Montana Right to Compute Act tracks 1. They are not interchangeable — meeting one does not discharge the other. The practical question is not which law is “stricter,” but which of them — or both — actually applies to your business.
Colorado AI / ADMT Law — SB 24-205 repealed & replaced by SB 26-189 (operative Jan 1, 2027)
CURRENT LAW: Colorado SB 26-189 — signed by Governor Polis on 14 May 2026 — REPEALED AND REENACTED part 17 of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (C.R.S. §§ 6-1-1701 to 6-1-1709), replacing the original Colorado AI Act (SB 24-205, 2024) in its entirety. It takes effect 1 January 2027 and applies to consequential decisions made on or after that date. The replacement narrows the regime: it regulates "automated decisio…
Full Colorado AI Act requirementsMontana Right to Compute Act + AI Governance (SB 212)
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 212 (the Montana Right to Compute Act) on April 17, 2025 — the first US state law affirming a right to own and use computational resources. The enacted law has two real, verified components: (1) it establishes a fundamental right to privately own and use computational resources (hardware, software, AI tools) for lawful purposes, applying strict scrutiny to any govern…
Full Montana Right to Compute Act requirementsCommon questions
Could both Colorado AI Act and Montana Right to Compute Act apply to my business?
Yes. Colorado AI Act and Montana Right to Compute Act are separate regulations with separate scopes — a business can fall under both at once. Colorado AI Act covers CURRENT (SB 26-189, C.R.S. Montana Right to Compute Act covers Applies in two layers. If your operations meet both scopes, you must comply with both. Aegis Firma's free scan checks all 169 tracked regulations against your business profile so you do not have to read each law to find out.
Which has the higher maximum penalty — Colorado AI Act or Montana Right to Compute Act?
Colorado AI Act: Civil penalty up to $20,000 per violation — each consumer or transaction involved is a separate violation — and up to $50,000 per violation committed against an elderly person (C.R.S. § 6-1-112(1)(a), (1)(c), via §§ 6-1-1706(1)-(2) and 6-1-105(1)(uuuu)). AG-exclusive enforcement; 60-day cure notice where the AG deems cure possible, waived for knowing or repeated violations (§ 6-1-1706(3)); no private right of action (§ 6-1-1709). Montana Right to Compute Act: No statutory monetary penalty specified in SB 212 itself for the risk-management-policy duty; the Right to Compute strict-scrutiny provision is a constraint on government action, enforceable via civil litigation/injunctive relief, not a penalty schedule. Penalty structures differ by regulator and violation type — read each law's full page for the cure periods and per-violation detail.
When does each law take effect?
Colorado AI Act — effective 2027-01-01. Montana Right to Compute Act — effective 2025-04-17. Dates last verified against official sources on 2026-08-22 and 2026-08-22 respectively.
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