On June 22, the governor of Texas signed into law HB 149 to establish the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) and regulate the conduct of AI developers broadly in the Lone Star State. TRAIGA bans AI models that intentionally discriminate, urge self-harm, or encourage criminal behavior. The law also bars governmental entities from using AI to assign social scores based on personal characteristics or behaviors, or from deploying AI for biometric identification without an individual’s consent. The statute further prohibits the use of AI systems with the sole intent to infringe on constitutional rights or unlawfully discriminate against protected classes. With respect to unlawful discrimination, the law clarifies that federally insured financial institutions are considered in compliance if they follow existing federal and state banking laws.

Moreover, the law creates a regulatory sandbox program, allowing companies to test innovative AI systems without immediate regulatory liability, provided they receive approval from the Texas Department of Information Resources and any applicable agencies. The statute also establishes the Texas Artificial Intelligence Council to oversee compliance and support responsible AI innovation.

Under the act, the attorney general has exclusive enforcement authority and may impose civil penalties up to $100,000 per violation but may not pursue actions against non-deployed AI systems. The act goes into effect January 1, 2026.