Texas AI Law

Guide

Texas AI Laws Beyond TRAIGA

The other Texas statutes that name artificial intelligence, what each requires and whom each reaches.

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Short Answer

TRAIGA is one of more than a dozen Texas statutes that address AI or AI-generated content. Most took effect September 1, 2025. They are sector-specific: health records and diagnosis, insurance utilization review, state and local government use, sexually explicit deepfakes, platform takedown duties, AI tools that generate sexual material, AI-generated child sexual abuse material, app stores and elections. Each has its own enforcer and remedy, and several are enforced through the DTPA rather than TRAIGA’s notice-and-cure process.

Which Laws Apply

Texas AI-specific: the statutes listed below.

Generally applicable Texas law: the DTPA supplies the remedy for several of them.

Federal: the TAKE IT DOWN Act overlaps the deepfake statutes; COPPA overlaps the minors’ statutes.

The Statutes at a Glance

LawEnacted rule and coverageEffective or application date
SB 1188Health and Safety Code 183.002, .005 and .007: specified health-record location, diagnostic AI review and disclosure, and record requirements.September 1, 2025; location rule applies to records stored on or after January 1, 2026.
SB 815Insurance Code 4201.156 prohibits wholly or partly automated adverse utilization-review determinations, subject to listed administrative and fraud exceptions.September 1, 2025; applies to review for plans delivered, issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.
SB 1964Government Code 2054.701 to .710 as added by SB 1964: government AI ethics, heightened-scrutiny standards, assessments and notices.September 1, 2025; implementing 1 TAC Chapter 219 rules effective March 18, 2026.
HB 2818Government Code 2054.701 to .705 as added by HB 2818: DIR AI division and public-sector AI advisory board.September 1, 2025.
HB 3512Government Code 2054.5191 and .5192 amendments: AI material in certified cybersecurity training for covered state and local personnel.September 1, 2025.
SB 441Penal Code 21.165 and Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 98B: prohibited sexually explicit deepfake media and civil remedies, including a 72-hour request-based removal duty in Civil Practice and Remedies Code 98B.002.September 1, 2025.
HB 3133Business and Commerce Code 120.102(b) and .1025: social-media reports of explicit deepfake material, removal, a status update within seven days and measures against reposting confirmed material.September 1, 2025.
HB 581Civil Practice and Remedies Code 129B.002(a-1), .003 and .0045: adult age verification and source-person consent for covered public sexual-material tools, with exceptions in .002(a-2).September 1, 2025.
SB 20Penal Code 43.235: specified knowing conduct involving obscene visual material that appears to depict a child, including computer-generated material.September 1, 2025.
SB 2420Business and Commerce Code Chapter 121: app-store and developer age, consent, rating and data duties. Litigation affects enforcement.January 1, 2026; June 4, 2026 stay of preliminary injunction verified; July 6 Supreme Court refusal to vacate the stay verified.
Election Code 255.004Specified creation and publication of a deepfake video with intent to injure a candidate or influence an election within 30 days of election day.September 1, 2019.

How These Laws Differ From TRAIGA

The actors and remedies differ. SB 815 regulates utilization review agents; SB 1188 regulates specified health records and practitioners; SB 1964 addresses government AI. Deepfake statutes include criminal and civil provisions with distinct elements. A reference to the DTPA does not establish that every claimant has a private action: the applicable statute, consumer status, reliance and available remedy must be checked. The bill numbers identify enactments; the current code sections identify the operative duties.

A Note on Pending and Failed Bills

SB 893 passed the Senate but its official history ends with referral to the House Elections Committee on April 9, 2025. Its proposed expansion of Election Code 255.004 did not become law. HB 449 was vetoed June 22, 2025. Neither is current law. The next regular session begins January 12, 2027; bill prefiling begins November 9, 2026.

Illustrative Example (Hypothetical)

Hypothetical: an Austin telehealth company uses AI to suggest diagnoses from patient records. Health and Safety Code 183.005 requires the permitted diagnostic use to be disclosed and the practitioner to review AI-created records under the applicable standards. TRAIGA separately requires disclosure by the date the health care service or treatment is first provided, with an emergency timing exception. An insurer using an automated system to make an adverse utilization-review determination faces a separate Insurance Code 4201.156 analysis.

What Is Unsettled

Scope differs by statute and implementing rule. SB 815 prohibits covered automated adverse determinations made wholly or partly by the system; a sole-basis summary is too narrow. The App Store Act’s verified June 4 and July 6 appellate orders permitted enforcement without deciding the merits. Future rules and later orders must be identified by their own dates rather than assumed from an enactment.

Duplicate Government Code Numbers

HB 2818 and SB 1964 both added sections numbered Government Code 2054.701 to Government Code 2054.705. The official code displays the provisions with their separate enactment notes. A citation to Government Code 2054.702 alone can therefore identify either the AI division’s work or the AI code of ethics. This publication adds the act name where the number overlaps, for example Government Code 2054.702 as added by SB 1964, Section 5. It does not combine the two provisions or silently renumber either.

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