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City briefing details new Texas AI law, preemption risks for Austin policies
Summary
City intergovernmental relations staff briefed the Technology Commission on recently passed and pending Texas bills that regulate government use of AI, set statewide rules for autonomous vehicles and alter franchise definitions for streaming services; staff warned some measures preempt local rules and noted an effective date for the AI law of Jan. 1, 2026.
Rick Ramirez, deputy intergovernmental relations officer for the City of Austin, told the Technology Commission on Aug. 13 that the Texas Legislature passed a package of bills this session that together reshape how state and local governments will use and govern artificial intelligence.
Ramirez summarized HB 149 as the primary AI bill: it requires government agencies to disclose to people when they are interacting with an AI system, prohibits AI-driven “social scoring” and certain biometric identification when civil liberties are implicated, establishes the Texas Artificial Intelligence Council, and preempts local AI regulation. Ramirez said the law’s…
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