Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act
In plain wordsA Texas law, in force since 2026, that bans a short list of harmful uses of AI — such as pushing people toward self-harm or making sexual deepfakes of children — and sets rules for government use of AI.
Texas House Bill 149 (2025), effective January 1, 2026, a comparatively narrow state AI statute. For all developers and deployers it prohibits building or using an AI system with the intent to incite self-harm, harm to others or crime; to infringe constitutional rights; to unlawfully discriminate against a protected class (disparate impact alone does not show intent); or to produce child sexual abuse material or sexual deepfakesdeepfake, n.: A fake but realistic video, photo or voice recording made with AI that puts words in a real person's mouth or shows them in a scene that never happened. of minors. Government agencies must disclose to consumers that they are interacting with AI and may not use AI for social scoringsocial scoring, n.: Rating people on how they behave or what they are like, then using the score to treat them worse in unrelated parts of their lives — a practice the EU has banned for AI. or, without consent, for biometric identification. The act creates a 36-month regulatory sandboxAI regulatory sandbox, n.: A supervised testing ground where companies can try out new AI with regulators watching and advising, before the product faces the full weight of the rules. and a Texas Artificial Intelligence Council. Enforcement belongs exclusively to the Attorney General after a 60-day cure period, with civil penalties of up to $200,000 per uncurable violation plus daily penalties for continuing ones; there is no private right of action.
TRAIGA turns on intent, so the plaintiff's statistics alone could not establish a violation.
Origin
Introduced by Representative Giovanni Capriglione, whose December 2024 draft (HB 1709) followed the risk-based model of the Colorado AI ActColorado AI Act, prop. n.: A Colorado law, first passed in 2024, governing AI used to make important decisions about people, such as hiring, lending and housing. In 2026 it was rewritten as a narrower law that starts in 2027. and the EU AI ActEU AI Act, prop. n.: The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, the first broad AI law anywhere: it bans some uses, sets strict checks for risky ones and puts duties on the makers of the biggest AI models.; after industry opposition it was narrowed into HB 149, which Governor Greg Abbott signed on June 22, 2025.
Usage note
Its intent-based prohibitions contrast with the original Colorado law's duty of care against discriminatory effects, and it is often cited as a lighter-touch template for other states.
Related
- Colorado AI ActColorado AI Act, prop. n.: A Colorado law, first passed in 2024, governing AI used to make important decisions about people, such as hiring, lending and housing. In 2026 it was rewritten as a narrower law that starts in 2027.
- AI preemptionAI preemption, n.: The push in the United States for a single national AI law that would override the states' own AI laws, and the fight over whether that is wise or even lawful.
- AI regulatory sandboxAI regulatory sandbox, n.: A supervised testing ground where companies can try out new AI with regulators watching and advising, before the product faces the full weight of the rules.
- social scoringsocial scoring, n.: Rating people on how they behave or what they are like, then using the score to treat them worse in unrelated parts of their lives — a practice the EU has banned for AI.
- deepfakedeepfake, n.: A fake but realistic video, photo or voice recording made with AI that puts words in a real person's mouth or shows them in a scene that never happened.
- algorithmic biasalgorithmic bias, n.: Unfairness in software that judges or serves people: it consistently produces worse results for some groups, such as women, older people or ethnic minorities, often because it learned from skewed or incomplete records.
Defined in law or standards
Texas HB 149 (89th Legislature, 2025)
Mentioned in
AI preemptionAI preemption, n.: The push in the United States for a single national AI law that would override the states' own AI laws, and the fight over whether that is wise or even lawful., Colorado AI ActColorado AI Act, prop. n.: A Colorado law, first passed in 2024, governing AI used to make important decisions about people, such as hiring, lending and housing. In 2026 it was rewritten as a narrower law that starts in 2027.