AI / Data Centers
Ken Paxton (R)
As AG, Paxton built one of the country's most aggressive state tech-enforcement programs, securing a $1.4B Meta settlement on biometric data and $1.375B in Google settlements on geolocation and biometric data. He reached a first-of-kind generative AI settlement with healthcare-AI company Pieces Technologies over misleading accuracy claims and opened investigations into Character.AI, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, and Discord. He has not taken a public position on whether federal law should preempt state AI regulation. Sen. Paul Bettencourt asked Paxton in May 2026 to investigate Texas counties (Hill, Hood) that passed data-center moratoriums, signaling a pro-development posture. His campaign issues page does not specifically address AI or data centers.
James Talarico (D)
Talarico wants to 'guarantee large energy users like data centers fund the infrastructure improvements they need rather than passing those costs on to consumers.' He proposes mandatory algorithmic bias and privacy impact assessments for social media platforms, prohibitions on algorithms targeting minors, and reining in broad Section 230-style immunity. He would protect workers from AI surveillance, guarantee human review for automated hiring/firing decisions, and require AI companies to follow existing copyright law. He supports stronger export controls on advanced AI chips to keep them out of adversaries' hands and federal grants for digital-literacy programs. In Austin he authored Texas's deepfake-protection bill, the AI-political-ad regulation, and helped establish the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium.
Sources
- Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, official campaign issues page, accessed May 2026. (full list)
- Talarico for Texas, official campaign issues pages (taxes, education, healthcare, immigration, social media/AI, freedom-family-faith, public-safety-justice, corruption-democracy, labor-business), accessed May 2026. (full list)
- Gabby Birenbaum, 'On the issues: A Q&A with Ken Paxton and John Cornyn,' Texas Tribune, April 20, 2026. (full list)
- Texas Attorney General, 'Attorney General Ken Paxton Leads Nation in Protecting Americans' Data Privacy,' July 2025 (Meta $1.4B, Google $1.375B settlements; Character.AI investigation). (full list)