United States · Tennessee
Tennessee AI laws: what's in force, and what's coming
Tennessee regulates specific AI harms: the 2024 ELVIS Act protects voice and likeness from AI cloning, a 2025 act targets nonconsensual intimate deepfakes, and a 2026 act bars marketing AI as a mental health professional. In 2026 broader companion-chatbot bills were amended into studies by the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR), with one report due January 31, 2027.
01 / State law
Tennessee's AI laws
| Law | Citation | Status | Effective | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELVIS Act (Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024) | HB 2091 / SB 2096 (2024), Public Chapter 588 | In force | 1 Jul 2024 | Adds voice to the statutory right of publicity and creates civil liability for unauthorized use of a person's voice or likeness, including distributing tools whose primary purpose is producing it without authorization. |
| Preventing Deepfake Images Act | SB 1346 / HB 1299 (2025), Public Chapter 466 | In force | 1 Jul 2025 | Creates a civil action (including $150,000 liquidated damages) and felony offenses for disclosing an intimate digital depiction of a person without consent. |
| AI may not pose as a mental health professional | SB 1580 / HB 1470 (2026), Public Chapter 647 | In force | 1 Jul 2026 | Bars developers and deployers from advertising or representing an AI system as a qualified mental health professional; enforced under the Consumer Protection Act with a $5,000 civil penalty per violation. |
| AI use policies in schools and universities | SB 1711 / HB 1630 (2024), Public Chapter 550 | In force | Requires local school boards, charter schools and public universities to adopt and report policies on student, teacher and staff use of AI for instruction and assignments. | |
| TACIR study of AI and chatbot regulation | SB 1700 / HB 1946 (2026), Public Chapter 1082 | In force | Originally a companion-chatbot bill; as enacted, directs TACIR to study regulating AI systems and generative AI chatbots, including safeguards for minors and mental health. | |
| TACIR study of AI risks | SB 1493 / HB 1455 (2026), Public Chapter 1066 | In force | Originally made training AI to act as a companion a felony; as enacted, requires a TACIR study of AI with a report to the governor and speakers by January 31, 2027. |
02 / Government use
Rules for the state's own AI use
Tennessee Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council Act (Tenn. Code Ann. 4-3-3101 et seq.) and the Council's AI Action Plan
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SOURCES
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Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration
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