DOJ joins Musk’s AI company in suing Colorado for new ‘DEI’ regulatory law

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced its support for Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, as it sues the state of Colorado over a new law set to go into effect in June that would regulate AI technology.

The company filed a suit against Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser on Thursday to prevent the enforcement of the law, which would impose new requirements on AI programs to protect users from “algorithmic discrimination” in education, employment, healthcare, housing and financial services, and other sectors.

xAI argued that the statute “severely burdens the development and use of AI” and infringes on First Amendment free speech protections.

“Its provisions prohibit developers of AI systems from producing speech that the State of Colorado dislikes, while compelling them to conform their speech to a State-enforced orthodoxy on controversial topics of great public concern,” the lawsuit reads.

 

It also claims that the law would force Musk’s company to rework its AI chatbot called Grok, which can be found on the social media platform X, to “conform to a controversial, highly politicized viewpoint” instead of maintaining its objectivity.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division announced on Friday that it partnered with the Civil Division to file a motion to intervene in the suit.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said in a video posted to social media that the state law in question requires companies to comply with its “crazy, woke, DEI goals,” referring to the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” policies instated widely across left-leaning and liberal organizations.

 

“This is illegal under the 14^th Amendment. We can’t use race, sex and gender, and force companies to change their products to comply with the state’s criteria in this regard,” she proclaimed. “But even worse, the state of Colorado actually allows this type of discrimination in its algorithms if it’s for good reasons — so, to remedy past discrimination. This is equally illegal under United States Supreme Court recent precedents.”

“Even the governor of Colorado expressed his deep reservations about this law when he signed it,” she added. “And President [Donald] Trump has declared AI to be an important, competitive, national security advantage for the United States, and we shouldn’t have this patchwork of crazy regulations all over.”

Governor Jared Polis (D-Colo.) signed the bill in 2024, but questioned whether it would alienate tech developers in his state with burdensome regulations.

 

Dhillon reported that the judge presiding over the suit granted the motion to intervene mere hours after its submission, making the United States a party in the case.

Today, @CivilRights & @DOJCivil intervened in a lawsuit to prevent Colorado from requiring AI companies to alter their algorithms & advance CO’s woke DEI goals.

It’s illegal under the 14th Amendment to discriminate based on race, sex, & other protected classes—see you in court! pic.twitter.com/3MpJyn14Gn

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) April 24, 2026

According to Dhillon, this is the first time the DOJ has challenged a state law.

 

This is the first time that @TheJusticeDept has challenged a state’s law that imposes DEI requirements on AI companies.

Hours after we filed our motion, the court granted intervention and the state agreed to suspend the law’s enforcement for ALL AI companies! pic.twitter.com/gQm46yW3dp

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) April 25, 2026