Has Texas HB 1481 Passed? What You're Actually Looking For

If you're Googling "Has Texas HB 1481 passed?" — you're not alone. It's one of the most common bill number mix-ups in Texas AI regulation. Here's what you're actually looking for and what it means for your organization.

The Short Answer

HB 1481 is not the Texas AI governance bill. The bill you're looking for is HB 149 — the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA). And yes, it passed. It was signed into law on September 1, 2025, and became fully enforceable on January 1, 2026.

The confusion likely comes from the 89th Texas Legislature session where multiple AI-related bills were filed. HB 149 is the comprehensive one — the one that creates obligations, defines prohibited practices, and carries penalties up to $200,000 per violation.

What HB 149 (TRAIGA) Actually Does

TRAIGA is intent-based AI regulation. Unlike Colorado's impact-based approach, Texas focuses on what your AI system was designed or deployed to do. The law:

• Defines 7 prohibited AI practices — subliminal manipulation, exploitation of vulnerabilities, social scoring, real-time biometric surveillance, discrimination intent, constitutional rights infringement, and CSAM generation
• Establishes NIST AI RMF as an affirmative defense — documented compliance with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework creates a legal safe harbor
• Grants the Texas AG exclusive enforcement authority — only the Attorney General can bring TRAIGA enforcement actions
• Provides a 60-day cure period — after receiving AG notice, you have 60 days to remediate before penalties are assessed
• Carries civil penalties up to $200,000 per violation — with each deployment or use of a prohibited AI system counting as a separate violation

The Full Texas AI Statutory Package

HB 149 didn't come alone. Texas passed a coordinated package of four AI statutes in the same legislative session:

Am I Affected?

If your organization does any of the following in Texas, TRAIGA applies to you:

• Uses AI chatbots that interact with Texas residents
• Deploys AI-driven hiring, lending, or insurance decisions
• Operates AI scoring, recommendation, or prediction systems
• Provides AI-powered healthcare diagnostics or treatment tools
• Uses AI in government services or administration

The law is geography-based, not registration-based. You don't need to be headquartered in Texas — you just need AI systems that affect Texans.

What to Do Right Now

The enforcement clock is running. Organizations that document their compliance posture before an AG investigation are the ones that benefit from the affirmative defense and the cure period. Here's the priority sequence:

1. Inventory your AI systems — every tool that uses machine learning, NLP, computer vision, or generative AI
2. Run prohibited practice screening — test each system against the 7 prohibited categories
3. Build your NIST AI RMF alignment — document Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage for each system
4. Generate evidence bundles — create audit-ready compliance packages before anyone asks
5. Establish your cure response plan — have the 60-day remediation workflow ready to execute

TXAIMS automates all five steps. Start a 14-day free trial and have your TRAIGA compliance posture documented in under an hour — the same evidence package you'd need if the AG comes knocking tomorrow.

Still have questions? Check our FAQ or read the full TRAIGA explainer.