Texas Responsible AI Governance Act

Applies To

Overview

Governor Abbott signed HB 149 on 22 June 2025, and it took effect on 1 January 2026. It is a pared-back version of an earlier bill, HB 1709, whose impact assessment and risk management policy duties were dropped. The Act applies to anyone who does business in Texas, makes products or services used by Texans, or develops or deploys AI in the state. Everyone covered is barred from developing or deploying AI with intent to incite self-harm, harm to others, or crime. It also bars AI built to infringe constitutional rights, unlawfully discriminate, or produce child sexual abuse material or certain sexually explicit deepfakes. A disparate impact alone does not prove intent to discriminate. Government agencies must tell consumers when they are interacting with an AI system, even if that is obvious. Licensed health care providers must tell patients. Government entities may not use AI for social scoring, or identify people with biometric data from public sources without consent. The Act also creates a regulatory sandbox and a Texas AI Council. The Attorney General has exclusive enforcement power, after a 60-day cure period. Civil penalties are $10,000 to $12,000 for curable violations and $80,000 to $200,000 for uncurable ones. Continuing violations add $2,000 to $40,000 per day.

Key Requirements

• •Do not develop or deploy AI intended to incite self-harm, harm to others, or crime.
• •Do not develop or deploy AI intended to infringe constitutional rights or unlawfully discriminate; disparate impact alone is not proof of intent.
• •Do not develop or distribute AI intended to produce child sexual abuse material or certain sexually explicit deepfakes.
• •Government agencies must disclose AI interactions to consumers, and licensed health care providers to patients.
• •Government entities may not use AI for social scoring or identify people from public biometric data without consent.
• •The Attorney General enforces after a 60-day cure period, with penalties up to $200,000 per uncurable violation.

What Your Organization Must Do

• →Map where your organization develops or deploys AI touching Texas residents, products, or services.
• →Review AI use cases against the banned intents: inciting self-harm, harm, crime, or unlawful discrimination.
• →Add controls blocking any AI built to produce child sexual abuse material or sexually explicit deepfakes.
• →Build AI disclosure notices now if you are a government agency or licensed health care provider.
• →Check government AI uses for social scoring or biometric identification from public sources without consent.
• →Prepare a 60-day cure response process for Attorney General notices, since only that office enforces.