  Several extensions of the standard model feature new colored states that
besides modifying the running of the QCD coupling could even lead to the loss
of asymptotic freedom. Such a loss would potentially diminish the Wilsonian
fundamental value of the theory. However, the recent discovery of complete
asymptotically safe vector-like theories \cite{Litim:2014uca}, i.e. featuring
an interacting UV fixed point in all couplings, elevates these theories to a
fundamental status and opens the door to alternative UV completions of (parts
of) the standard model. If, for example, QCD rather than being asymptotically
free becomes asymptotically safe there would be consequences on the early time
evolution of the Universe (the QCD plasma would not be free). It is therefore
important to test, both directly and indirectly, the strong coupling running at
the highest possible energies. I will review here the attempts made in
\cite{Becciolini:2014lya} to use pure QCD observables at the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC) to place bounds on new colored states. Such bounds do not depend
on the detailed properties of the new hypothetical states but on their
effective number and mass. We will see that these direct constraints cannot
exclude a potentially safe, rather than free, QCD asymptotic nature. A safe QCD
scenario would imply that quarks and gluons are only approximately free at some
intermediate energies, otherwise they are always in chains.
