US State AI Laws: plain-English guides for the people who operate it.

US state AI laws, explained. There is no single federal AI law in the United States, so a patchwork of state laws governs how AI may be built and deployed. The states that have moved furthest, and that most organisations need to understand, are Colorado, Texas, California, and New York City: Colorado with a broad, risk-based AI Act focused on high-risk systems and algorithmic discrimination; Texas with the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA), targeting prohibited and regulated AI uses; California with overlapping rules on automated decision-making technology, AI transparency, and the intersection with its strong privacy regime; and New York City with Local Law 144, a narrow but influential rule requiring bias audits and candidate notice for automated employment decision tools. Many other states have legislation in flight, so the picture is widening rather than settling. For organisations operating nationally, the practical challenge is coverage. A single AI system can sit inside Colorado's rules for some users, California's for others, NYC's if used in hiring there, and Texas's wherever it touches a prohibited use. The obligations differ, but the underlying disciplines, knowing your AI systems, classifying them, governing high-risk uses, being transparent, and keeping evidence, are common, and they line up with the EU AI Act, the NIST AI RMF, and ISO 42001. These guides are written for the people who actually have to operate across the patchwork. They explain each major state law in plain English, who it applies to, what the duties are, and how to prepare, then compare the approaches and point to the official state sources so you can cross-check. State laws are evolving, so each guide flags where text or timing has been subject to change.