TEXAS — The closing shot for Dallas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s latest campaign ad for U.S. Senate is raising eyebrows for its possible use of artificial intelligence to show her surrounded by a large crowd. Democratic strategist and popular YouTuber Keith Edwards claimed the image contains “an invisible digital identifier used by Google to verify content created by its AI.”

Crockett’s campaign says the anime-style advertisement “was created through hundreds of hours of real craft and collaboration between creatives and union labor.” But she did not directly address whether her campaign used AI in the ad.

On the Republican side, incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has altered images in his own campaign ad against challenger Houston U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. He’s shown Hunt as the book character “Where’s Waldo” in an attack on Hunt’s absence from voting in Congress.

“We just need to adjust, in my opinion, to the AI era and try to increase AI literacy among the public,” said Kevin Frazier, the director of AI Innovation at the University of Texas School of Law.

A video of Cornyn dancing with Crockett is a more obvious use of AI in political advertising. It’s part of an ad from Cornyn’s top Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. It discloses the use of AI in the final shot.

Frazier argues that all AI use should be disclosed in political advertising. 

“Having some availability to know whether or not an image or an ad was generated by AI, but not going so far as to prohibit its use or to try to slap some heavy-handed law on it,” he said. “This should be a political and values-based conversation that may vary from state to state.”

During last year’s regular session, state Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, pushed for a bill to require candidates and political committees to disclose the use of altered media in ads.

Phelan was on the receiving end of AI during a tough Republican primary, as campaign mailers showed altered images of him hugging prominent Democrat Nancy Pelosi. The bill received pushback from conservative hardliners.

“It is my goal to prevent someone from impacting or altering an election by using fake media that never occurred in reality, be an AI or deepfakes,” said Phelan during the April 2025 debate.

Phelan’s bill made it out of the House with Democratic support but died in the upper chamber. Ultimately, Frazier thinks it’s up to Texans to inform candidates of what they think is the best ethical use of AI.

“If you don’t like the way someone’s campaigning, if you think they’re engaging in the 21st century’s version of mudslinging, for example, then using your vote is very effective,” said Frazier.

Early voting in the Texas primary elections starts next Tuesday.

The City of Austin’s mass transit project Project Connect was the subject of conversation at last week’s Movability breakfast at St. Edward’s University.

Movability is the region’s transportation management association, and it works to promote connectivity in the Central Texas area. A city blog recapped the Feb. 4 annual breakfast, during which featured Capital Metro president & CEO Dottie Watkins and Jennifer Pyne of the Austin Transit Partnership.

During the event, Pyne and Watkins both answered questions about the current status of Project Connect and the moves Capital Metro and ATP are making in tandem to bring the vision to reality.

According to Pyne, the light rail project received a Record of Decision a few weeks ago, which is a milestone for the project. That means it has cleared the end of the environmental impact statement process for projects seeking federal funding.

“It’s really a green light to take the project to the next level, to do further design, to really advance the work,” Pyne said. “We are in a position to start to do utilities relocation. So, it’s really moving to the next phase.”

Pyne said APT is pursuing grant funding from the New Starts program, which is part of the Federal Transit Administration and designed to support major capital investments. She estimated the city is approximately two years away from inking such an agreement.

That would mean construction starts in roughly 2027. “We’re bringing on some of our key partners, the construction contractors, and the final designers, coming on this year. We will be identifying a vehicle manufacturer later this year and getting ready to actually turn dirt,” Pyne said.

ATP is currently in three active solicitations with one for the light rail track, systems, and stations, and another team for operations and maintenance facilities. “We are also actively in a solicitation with railcar builders to bring those on,” she said.