A Breakdown of Key AI Bills Passed by the Texas Legislature
As artificial intelligence continues to take the world by storm, governments have struggled to regulate the technology. Debates about discrimination and data privacy result in regulations that vary from state to state. While there is no comprehensive federal AI legislation, some states, like Colorado, have passed their own comprehensive laws, while many others have laws surrounding specific aspects or uses of AI.
Currently, Texas does not have a comprehensive AI law, but key pieces of AI-related legislation have been sent to Governor Greg Abbott and are awaiting his signature. If he does not veto a bill before June 22, it automatically becomes law. Here’s a breakdown of the major pending AI legislation in Texas:
The Texas Responsible AI Governance Act
Also known as TRAIGA, this bill would be the closest thing Texas has to a comprehensive AI bill. An earlier version of the bill, filed in 2024, was much wider-reaching, but the version currently on Abbott’s desk is mostly focused on government-deployed AI, leaving AI run by commercial enterprises largely unregulated.
TRAIGA would prohibit the government from using AI to issue “social scores” to individuals. Social scoring is a method of tracking people’s actions and “scoring” them to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. However, TRAIGA would only prevent the government from using social scores, not commercial entities.
Furthermore, the bill would prohibit the government from using AI trained on publicly available images to identify specific individuals. Businesses would also be prohibited from collecting biometric indicators and using them for commercial purposes, with violations resulting in fines of up to $25,000.
Another prohibition that applies to both the government and businesses is using AI in a manner that “intentionally aims” to manipulate someone to harm themselves, harm others, or to engage in illegal activity.
Regulations on AI-Generated Sexual Content, or Deepfakes
One of the major concerns surrounding AI is the generation of deepfakes, particularly deepfake sexual content created without consent. While there is no comprehensive federal ban on deepfakes, current Texas law classifies deepfakes depicting sexual content as a Class A misdemeanor. However, if Abbott signs Senate Bill 441 into law, that charge would escalate to a felony if the person depicted is a minor.
Additionally, House Bill 581 aims to ban artificially created sexual material deemed “harmful to minors.” This bill stipulates that publicly available sites cannot display artificial sexual content unless they have a policy to ban explicit material or implement a reasonable age verification process to ensure minors are not accessing the content.
Incorporating AI into the State Government
Other bills awaiting the governor’s approval provide guidance on how the Texas government should deploy AI technologies. For example, Senate Bill 1964 would mandate public disclosure of all public-facing AI systems utilized by the government, although no such disclosure requirements would apply to commercial entities.
Moreover, House Bill 2818 proposes the creation of an Artificial Intelligence Division to oversee the implementation of AI systems in the state government, aiming to replace or modernize legacy systems. House Bill 3512 would require artificial intelligence training for all state employees to ensure they are equipped to handle the new technologies responsibly.
