Texas politicians call for guardrails on AI, data centers

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AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Candidates for one of Texas’ seats in the U.S. Senate called for guardrails on artificial intelligence this week, after OpenAI said one of its AI models allegedly gained access to an AI firm’s systems during a security evaluation.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico said Wednesday that the state should balance the needs of its residents while also allowing for innovation in AI.

“I think we have to strike a balance between being a leader in technology and innovation as our state has always been and protecting working people from the harms of these data centers,” he said.

Talarico’s opponent, Ken Paxton, says he also wants to see guardrails on AI.

“I want technological innovation. I want companies to be successful. I want them to come to Texas and provide jobs and create wealth opportunities for the entire state,” Paxton said on the podcast It’s A Numbers Game with Ryan Girdusky. “We have to compete against China; we have to go forward with AI, but we do need to make sure that people are protected from the downsides as best we can do that.”

Utility commission moves to lower electricity costs, prepare for data centers

The Public Utility Commission of Texas filed a memo to Gov. Greg Abbott that details its plans to protect Texans from rising costs due to data centers. It also, per the governor’s request, detailed ongoing projects and needs from the 2027 legislative session.

“There’ll probably be 181 members that will file 181 best practices bills for data centers,” said State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock. “The PUC has over 200 data center applications, the bulk of them will never see the light of day.”

PUC Chairman Thomas Gleeson said in the letter that he agrees the state should prioritize affordability and reliability of the electric grid. The commission already requires new large load customers like data centers to provide their own power, and is........

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