Legislative update: 11 TCAI-backed bills moving in 6 states right now
One of this year’s most-anticipated AI bills, the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA), will get its first hearing later this month in the Texas State Capitol in Austin, above.
Feb. 10, 2025 — The 2025 legislative season is off to a roaring start, with Transparency Coalition leaders working with legislators on 11 bills in six states to build on the success we saw last year in California.
With Congress inactive on AI and President Trump withdrawing the previous White House guidance, state lawmakers are taking the lead in enacting appropriate and critically needed AI safeguards.
The bill with the highest national profile right now is the Texas TRAIGA, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione’s Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (HB 1709). TRAIGA mandates transparency and accountability, prohibits data misuse and algorithmic discrimination, sets clear standards and enforcement mechanisms, and positions Texas as a leader in responsible AI governance. It’s expected to get its first hearing later this month.
In Virginia, which has a lightning-quick six-week session, two AI bills have passed the House and are now under consideration in the Senate. Washington has two bills, a disclosure and a training data transparency bill, that would further establish standards set by California last year. New Mexico’s HB 60 takes Colorado’s 2024 AI Act and makes it better. Nebraska is working on four bills to protect kids from AI and social media. And California just introduced a copyright-focused training data transparency bill.
Here’s a deeper dive into what’s happening right now.
california
Last week Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), chair of the Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, introduced AB 412, the AI Copyright Transparency Act. The bill would significantly increase transparency around the use of copyrighted materials to train generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) systems and models. Full TCAI story here.
The proposed legislation requires GenAI developers to inform copyright owners when their materials are included in GenAI training datasets. It also includes one of the first requirements for developers to install a Training Data Verification Request (TDVR) tool, which would allow individuals to query the developer to find out if specific intellectual property was used to train a certain AI model. TCAI has called for the adoption of TDVRs and accompanying Training Data Deletion Request (TDDR) tools as a required industry standard.
Transparency Coalition Founder Jai Jaisimha expressed strong support for the proposal.
“We are especially excited to see the incorporation of Training Data Verification Requests,” said Jaisimha, “which we have been advocating for since the passage last year of AB 2013 Training Data Transparency Act authored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin.”
Jaisimha added that TCAI will be urging Assm. Bauer-Kahan to incorporate a Training Data Deletion Request tool, similar to California's pioneering Delete Act for personal data, in future versions of the bill.
NEBRASKA
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) is teaming up with Republican lawmakers in the Cornhusker State to protect children against online abuse and the addictive nature of phone apps and online services. In late January, state senators introduced four bills at Pillen’s request that take aim at specific aspects of problematic online use. Full TCAI story here.
Transparency Coalition leaders are lending their support to the four-bill portfolio, which TCAI sees as a bold and admirable effort to protect Nebraska kids against the harms of social media and artificial intelligence.
The four bills are:
LB 140: Use of Electronic Communication Devices by Students
This bill, sponsored by Sen. Rita Sanders (R-Bellevue), would require each public school board to adopt policies to restrict the use of phones in schools before the start of the next academic year.
LB 504: The Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act
This bill, sponsored by Sen. Carolyn Bosn (R-Lincoln), requires social media and other online services to include design features that prevent compulsive usage of the product, severe psychological harm such as anxiety and depression, severe emotional harm, identity theft, and privacy violations.
LB 383: The Parental Rights in Social Media Act
This proposal, sponsored by Sen. Tanya Storer (R-Whitman), requires social media companies to verify parental consent prior to allowing a minor to create a social media account.
LB 172: Conduct Involving Computer-Generated Child Pornography
This bill, sponsored by Sen. Brian Hardin (R-Gering), addresses AI-generated and other child pornography created by minors by making such crime a Class III felony. The bill would add “computer-generated child pornography” to the statutes that prohibit child pornography. Adults who violate the act will be guilty of a class 1D felony.
New Mexico
One of the most promising AI bills of 2025 is emerging with little media fanfare right now in New Mexico.
The New Mexico Artificial Intelligence Act (HB 60) authored by Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) is a strengthened and improved version of the Colorado AI Act adopted in Denver last year. Full TCAI story here.
HB 60 is modeled focuses on protecting consumers from the negative impacts of high-risk AI systems. The bill requires documentation, disclosure, and transparency from AI developers, and includes enforcement measures that may be undertaken by the state attorney general or by private individuals.
The bill would require AI developers to:
Use “reasonable care” to protect consumers from algorithmic discrimination
Disclose potential risks of using the AI system
Report credible incidents of algorithmic discrimination to the New Mexico Department of Justice
Conduct impact assessments for AI systems
The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Andrea Romero, Rep. Debra M. Sariñana, and Rep.
Linda M. Trujillo. A full legislative bill analysis of HB 60 is available here.
Steve Wimmer, TCAI’s technical and policy advisor, was in Santa Fe last week to meet with lawmakers and share his expertise with members of the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee and the House Judicial Committee.
Wimmer testified before the Public Affairs Committee last week alongside Rep. Chandler and Cris Moore, computer science professor at the Santa Fe Institute.
At the conclusion of that hearing the committee approved the bill, 5-1. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the bill soon.
TEXAS
There’s a lot of national buzz around Rep. Giovanni Capriglione’s HB 1709, the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA).
We’re backing it. TRAIGA mandates transparency and accountability, prohibits data misuse and algorithmic discrimination, sets clear standards and enforcement mechanisms, and positions Texas as a leader in responsible AI governance.
This comprehensive AI bill is expected to get its first committee hearing in later February. The Texas House is still awaiting committee assignments, which are designated by the speaker. This year’s delay resulted from a drawn-out fight for the speakership, which was finally settled on Jan. 14. New Speaker Dustin Burrows, an establishment Republican from Lubbock, won the job over a challenge from far-right Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield). The Texas Tribune has a nice backgrounder on the complex party dynamics at play in the House this year.
VIRGINIA
Virginia Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado filed four AI-related bills in early January. Two have been referred to a state technology committee for further study, while two others stand a fair chance of passage this month. Virginia’s six-week legislative session, the shortest in the country, is scheduled to adjourn on Feb. 22.
HB 2121, Digital Content Authenticity and Transparency Act, and HB 2250, the Consumer Opt-Out Artificial Intelligence Training Data Act, have both been tabled to JCOTS, the legislature’s Joint Committee on Technology and Science. What that means: The bills will be studied and reviewed in the legislative off-season for consideration in early 2026.
The two bills approved by the House and now being considered by the Senate are:
HB 2094: High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Developer and Deployer Act.
This bill requires developers of high-risk AI systems to disclose clear information regarding the system’s intended use, purpose, known limitations, foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination, performance evaluation results, and risk mitigation measures. Read the full bill here.
HB 2094 was approved by Virginia’s House of Delegates on Feb. 4 by a vote of 51-47. Upon crossing over to the Senate it was assigned to the Committee on General Laws and Technology, which is next scheduled to meet on Wed., Feb. 12, at 11 a.m. local time.
HB 2124: Synthetic Digital Content Act.
This bill would expand the applicability of provisions related to defamation, slander, and libel to include synthetic (AI-created or AI-modified) digital content. The bill makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to use any AI-derived content for the purpose of committing any criminal offense involving fraud. The bill also authorizes the individual depicted in the synthetic digital content to bring a civil action against the person who violates such prohibition. Read the full bill here.
HB 2124 was approved by the full House on Jan. 31 (on a vote of 87-9). The bill now sits with the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice, which has it on the committee docket for its meeting today (Mon., Feb. 10).
WASHINGTON
TCAI is working to support State Rep. Clyde Shavers who has authored HB 1168 and HB 1170, AI disclosure and training data transparency bills. Jai Jaisimha testified last month on behalf of both bills, which are gaining co-sponsors and moving through committee. Full TCAI story here.
HB 1168, would require developers to publish information about AI training datasets. HB 1170 would require the inclusion of discovery tools in AI-generated digital content.
The two bills closely align with the transparency bills adopted by California in late 2024, known as AB 2013 and SB 942. Codifying similar requirements into law in Washington, home of Microsoft, Amazon, and a thriving entrepreneurial tech industry, would protect consumers while establishing a consistent industry standard for all AI developers.
The Transparency Coalition has worked to support both bills and advocating for their adoption.
HB 1168 passed out of the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans on Jan. 28, and now sits with the House Appropriations Committee. HB 1170 was also passed out of committee on Jan. 28, and now goes to the Rules Committee.