From controlling home environments with commands like “Siri, turn on the living room lights” to managing fraud and risk in financial institutions, artificial intelligence is integral to many products and services we use daily.
And the news cycle reminds us frequently that this is just the beginning — that the full promise and peril of AI still lies before us. This is not just technology that will allow us to do the same things in a new way; it has the potential to make us “extra” human — smarter, faster versions of ourselves.
“Every aspect of civilization will be impacted, I believe, by AI, and therefore I wanted to study it thoughtfully and thoroughly before jumping into legislation,” said Senator Tan Parker.
The Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council was established through House Bill 2060 during the 88th legislative session. Composed of founding members and Co-Chairs Senator Parker and Representative Gio Capriglione, along with five other public members, the council intends to increase the study, use, and public awareness of AI. At the heart of any successful endeavor lies collaboration. The Texas AI Council will serve as a nucleus for fostering collaboration among key stakeholders, including government agencies, industry leaders, academic institutions, and research centers.
Advertisement
“There are very real and concerning downsides that have to be managed when it comes to AI and as a result of that, while I am always a free-market, free-enterprise guy trying to minimize regulation, some regulation will be necessary,” said Senator Parker.
That’s why he and the AI advisory council are taking a thoughtful approach. Through public hearings and agency testimony, they will create recommendations for legislation, which they plan to issue by December 2024.
“Communication and knowledge are the cornerstones of progress, and our council will serve as the catalyst, uniting minds from all sectors to produce thoughtful policy concerning AI advancement and technology,” according to Senator Parker.
The group’s first working meeting was at the end of March, when it heard from four state agencies, including the Texas Department of Information Research (DIR) and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
“I was quite pleased, actually, with the progress and the thoughtfulness of the agencies in terms of how they’re approaching AI,” Senator Parker noted.
Advertisement
For example, TxDOT is using AI to cut down accident response time, process payments, manage traffic, and evaluate aging infrastructure.
The Texas Workforce Commission also testified about their chatbot named Larry being used to screen calls and efficiently connect them with the best department. Parker doesn’t envision this ever becoming an all-bot operation, saying the people of Texas are best served by man and machine working together.
“We must maintain a human touch and a human presence with regard to the workforce commission, as you have people that are struggling for work and trying to find new careers and so forth,” Senator Parker said.
The council will continue hearing from agencies and the public through the summer—information that will help inform the group’s recommendations. Parker is confident in this approach. He strongly believes in the states, particularly Texas, leading the nation on critical issues.
He pointed to Jenna’s Law. Passed in 2009 and amended in 2017, the legislation mandates K through 12 training for educators. After being passed, a study found educators reported suspected abuse almost four times more than before the training. Now, Senator Cornyn is moving that law through the U.S. Congress. Parker hopes to see it become a federal law by year’s end and believes the Lone Star State can again lead the nation on AI legislation.
Advertisement
Texas has long been a beacon of innovation and growth in many areas, and AI creates an unprecedented opportunity to further bolster the state’s reputation as a leader in groundbreaking research and development while increasing the benefits to Texans in their everyday lives. The council aims to support cutting-edge research initiatives and breakthroughs in AI while propelling Texas to the forefront of global innovation and efficiency.
The next AI Advisory Council meeting will be held at the Texas Capitol on May 8th. For more information, including background on council members, overall objectives, and when and where you can participate in public testimony, check out the website.
Voices contributor Nicole Ward is a data journalist for the Dallas Regional Chamber.
Get on the list. Dallas Innovates, every day.
Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.
Advertisement
R E A D N E X T
Dallas Innovates, the Dallas Regional Chamber, and Dallas AI are teaming up to launch the new AI 75 program at Capital Factory’s Future of AI Salon today. The first-ever list will recognize Dallas-Fort Worth innovators in artificial intelligence. Nominations are open through March 20.
The newly established Texas Capital Foundation is following the first round of grant awards by opening again for new submissions this November.
Tarleton State University received the go-ahead for a new biotechnology institute as part of Texas A&M-Fort Worth’s burgeoning downtown research campus. Approved in mid-August by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the biotech institute is situated in one of the nation’s fastest-growing life sciences hubs. “More than 5,000 biotechnology manufacturing and research and development firms — think Novartis, Alcon, AstraZeneca — call Texas home,” according to the university. And DFW now ranks seventh in the U.S. for life science and biotech jobs. The Tarleton State Biotechnology Institute will focus on discovery and innovation in bioinformatics and computational modeling.…
At the Bush Center in Dallas on September 5, Capital Factory will host top tech minds to talk AI and AGI. Tech icon John Carmack will take the stage in a rare fireside chat on artificial general intelligence with AI expert Dave Copps. Here’s what you need to know, along with advance insights from Copps.
As part of a nationwide effort, the NFEC chose Texas as one of its initial launch states because of the demonstrated need for greater economic empowerment among Texans.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump just can’t seem to choose among friends in the Texas Senate Republican primary.
So when he travels to the state on Friday for his first post- State of the Union trip, where he plans to promote his energy and economic policies, Trump will have all three candidates in the competitive race join him — just days before his party casts ballots in the primary race.
Sen. John Cornyn is battling for his fifth term and is being challenged by state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a primary fight that has become viciously personal. And all three men, missing the coveted endorsement from Trump, have been trying to highlight their ties to him as they ramp up their campaigning ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
For his part, Trump will be seeking to ride the message of his State of the Union address from Tuesday, where he declared a return to economic prosperity and a more secure America — two centerpiece arguments for Republicans as they campaign to keep their congressional majorities this fall.
Advertisement
Trump’s hesitation to endorse in the Texas Senate primary speaks to the tricky dynamics of the race.
Cornyn is unpopular with a segment of Texas’ GOP base, in part for his early dismissiveness of Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign and for his role in authoring tougher restrictions on guns after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But Senate GOP leadership and allied groups see Cornyn as the stronger general election candidate, in light of a series of troubles that have shadowed Paxton.
Paxton beat impeachment on fraud charges in 2023, and has faced allegations of marital infidelity by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, is joined by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, left, during a campaign stop in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, have urged Trump to endorse Cornyn. They and allied campaign groups argue that the seat would cost the party hundreds of millions more to defend with Paxton as the candidate.
Advertisement
“It is a strong possibility we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee,” Scott told Fox News on Wednesday.
Hunt, a second-term Houston-area representative, was a later entry to the race, but claims a kinship with Trump, having endorsed him early in the 2024 race. Hunt campaigned regularly for Trump and earned a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
If no candidate reaches 50% in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers will advance to a May 26 runoff.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, arrive before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP/Allison Robbert
Cornyn’s campaign and a half-dozen allied groups have poured more than $63 million into the race since last fall, chiefly trying to slow Paxton but recently attacking Hunt in an effort to keep him from making it to the runoff.
Earlier this month, Trump feinted toward weighing in on the race when he said he was taking “a serious look” at endorsing in the Texas primary. He has since reaffirmed his neutrality.
Advertisement
Still, you wouldn’t know it from watching TV in Texas. Cornyn has been airing ads since last year touting his support for Trump’s agenda, even though his relationship with the president has been cool at times. Paxton and Hunt both have ads airing now featuring them standing with Trump.
“I like all three of them, actually. Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three,” Trump said earlier this month.
The GOP battle comes as Democrats have a contested primary of their own in Texas between state Rep. James Talarico, a self-described policy wonk who regularly quotes the Bible, and progressive favorite U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
Trump hasn’t been shy about wading into other contested Republican primaries in the state. Parts of Corpus Christi fall within Texas’ 34th congressional district, where former Rep. Mayra Flores is fighting to reclaim her seat against the Trump-endorsed Eric Flores. (The two are not related.) The winner of the primary will face off against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, long a target of the GOP, whose district was redrawn to make it easier for a Republican to win.
Eric Flores will be at the Trump event at the Port of Corpus Christi, which technically is located in a neighboring district.
Advertisement
Elsewhere in the state, the president has also endorsed Rep. Tony Gonzales, who is fighting calls from his own party to resign from Congress after reports of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after she set herself on fire. Gonzales is refusing to step down and has said that there will be “opportunities for all of the details and facts to come out” and that the stories about the situation do not represent “all the facts.”
Gonzales is facing a primary challenge from Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer who Gonzales defeated by fewer than 400 votes in their 2024 runoff. The White House did not return a request for comment on Thursday on whether Trump stands by his endorsement of Gonzales.
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting his reckless driving caused a head-on collision in rural West Texas that killed Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country music group now known as The Chicks, prosecutors said.
Domenick Chavez, 33, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Dec. 22, 2023, crash in Hudspeth County, according to a news release Tuesday from El Paso County District James Montoya, who also oversees nearby Hudspeth County.
The news release said Chavez was driving a truck westbound when he tried to pass four vehicles on a two-way undivided highway and collided head-on with Lynch’s eastbound truck. Lynch, 65, of Dell City, was trapped in her vehicle and died. Prosecutors said Chavez was traveling between 106 mph and 114 mph.
Prosecutors said alcohol wasn’t a factor in the crash but that Chavez was driving on a suspended license, which had been revoked due to his failure to comply with DWI-related surcharges and penalties from convictions in 2014 and 2017.
Advertisement
Lynch, along with Robin Lynn Macy and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, formed The Dixie Chicks in the late 1980s. Lynch and Macy eventually left the band and Natalie Maines joined the sisters. The trio hit commercial fame with their breakthrough album “Wide Open Spaces” in 1998 and have won 13 Grammys. In 2020, the band changed its name to The Chicks.
In a social media post after Lynch’s death, The Chicks said Lynch had “infectious energy and humor” and was “instrumental” in the band’s early success.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Billy Richmond III scored 23 points and No. 20 Arkansas took advantage of Texas A&M’s miscues to beat the Aggies 99-84 on Wednesday night.
Richmond, who shot 8 of 13 from the floor and has scored 20 points or more in the last four games, had 15 points in the first half as the Razorbacks (21-7, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) took a 37-28 lead into halftime.
They carried the advantage in large part because Texas A&M (19-8, 9-6) couldn’t take care of the ball. Thirteen first-half turnovers led to 15 points for Arkansas.
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 22 points for Arkansas, Malique Ewin had 18, Trevon Brazile 14 and Meleek Thomas 13. Acuff, who entered leading the SEC in scoring with 22.2 points per game, had been held to just five points until the final nine minutes as he made his last six of his last seven shots from the floor after a 1-for-12 start.
Advertisement
Sports Roundup
Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Texas A&M forward Rashaun Agee (12) is fouled as he tries to drive past Arkansas defenders D.J. Wagner (21) and Malique Ewin (12) during an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Fayetteville, Ark.
Michael Woods / AP
Advertisement
Zach Clemence came off the bench to score a career-high 29 points for Texas A&M. Rashaun Agee added 17.
After the teams traded baskets to start the game, Texas A&M went on an 11-0 run as Arkansas went more than 4:30 without a field goal, missing seven straight. The Razorbacks followed with a run of their own, scoring 16 straight points over the next 3:28 to take the lead for good.
Texas A&M pulled within five points with 9:21 left on Agee’s layup. But Arkansas countered with a 9-2 run to stretch its lead back to double-digits.
For the game, the Aggies committed 16 turnovers and were outscored in transition 30-13.
Up next
Arkansas plays at No. 7 Florida on Saturday. The Razorbacks have won at Florida just twice in 18 games since joining the SEC ahead of the 1991-92 season.
Advertisement
Texas A&M hosts Texas on Saturday.
Fort Worth’s Ranchbot helps agriculture tap water as Texas grapples with scarcity fears
NCAA women’s basketball bracketology: Where are local teams projected in March Madness?
Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
