Texas Data Law

What Is

What Is TRAIGA (Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act)

The Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) was enacted as HB 149, signed June 22, 2025, and took effect January 1, 2026. It adds artificial intelligence provisions to the Business and Commerce Code in chapter 552. This entry covers only the points that touch data and privacy law. Our companion publication, Texas AI Law, covers the Act in full.

TRAIGA applies to anyone who does business in Texas, offers products or services used by Texas residents, or develops or deploys an AI system in Texas. It bars developing or deploying AI with intent to manipulate people into self-harm, harm to others, or crime; with the sole intent of infringing constitutional rights; with intent to discriminate unlawfully against a protected class; or with the sole intent of producing child sexual abuse material or unlawful sexual deepfakes. For governmental entities, two further bars apply. Under §552.053, a governmental entity may not use or deploy AI that evaluates or classifies a person or group based on social behavior or personal characteristics, whether known, inferred, or predicted, with the intent to calculate or assign a social score or similar valuation, where the score results or may result in detrimental treatment in an unrelated social context, unjustified or disproportionate treatment, or infringement of rights under the U.S. Constitution, the Texas Constitution, or state or federal law. Under §552.054(b), a governmental entity may not develop or deploy AI for the purpose of uniquely identifying a specific individual using biometric data, or through the targeted or untargeted gathering of images or other media from the Internet or other publicly available sources without the individual's consent, if the gathering would infringe the individual's rights under the U.S. Constitution, the Texas Constitution, or state or federal law. 'Governmental entity' excludes hospital districts and institutions of higher education (§552.001(3)).

The Attorney General has exclusive enforcement authority subject to §552.106, which permits specified state-agency sanctions after a court finds a violation and the Attorney General recommends additional enforcement. The Attorney General must follow the 60-day notice-and-cure process before suing (§552.104). Civil penalties run from $10,000 to $12,000 per curable violation, $80,000 to $200,000 per uncurable violation, and up to $40,000 a day for a continuing violation. The Act also creates a 36-month regulatory sandbox administered by the Department of Information Resources and a Texas Artificial Intelligence Council.

Where it changed Texas privacy law. HB 149 amended two statutes this site covers, both effective January 1, 2026:

  • CUBI. New §503.001(e) exceptions cover (1) voiceprint data retained by a financial institution or an affiliate of a financial institution; (2) the training, processing, or storage of biometric identifiers involved in developing, training, evaluating, disseminating, or otherwise offering AI models or systems, unless a system is used or deployed to uniquely identify a specific individual; and (3) developing or deploying an AI model or system to prevent, detect, protect against, or respond to security incidents, identity theft, fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities, or other illegal activity, to preserve system integrity or security, or to investigate, report, or prosecute those responsible. Under §503.001(f), a biometric identifier captured to train an AI system and later used for a commercial purpose outside these exceptions becomes subject to CUBI's possession, destruction, and penalty provisions. Under §503.001(b-1), an individual is not informed of and does not consent to capture based solely on publicly available media containing the individual's biometric identifiers, unless the individual made the media publicly available.
  • TDPSA. It amended the processor provisions (§541.104(a)(2)).

Pinpoint: HB 149, 89th Legislature (2025); Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 552 and following.

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