Texas
Texas should rein in AI abuses with new consumer protections
In testimony before a state committee on artificial intelligence, a witness showed a picture of the Dallas Cowboys celebrating a Super Bowl victory this year. Another witness displayed an AI-generated email response crafted from a state lawmaker’s LinkedIn account.
Two problems. There was no such victory or celebration, and the lawmaker had nothing to do with the email response.
Increasingly used in hiring, credit, health care, law enforcement, insurance and other everyday decisions, artificial intelligence can produce dangerous, life-altering consequences. AI-initiated deceptions or faulty data can cost someone a job, a home or even their freedom. Unfortunately, the absence of clear rules makes it difficult for Texans to know how artificial intelligence impacts their lives and to contest abuses.
Texas lawmakers could remedy this when the Legislature convenes next year. Warning of potential abuses of privacy, consumer rights and threats to elections and national security, several artificial technology experts recently told the Texas House Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technologies that lawmakers should provide legal and ethical guidelines for artificial intelligence use in Texas. Among their recommendations, they urge laws to require companies to disclose how they use algorithms and biometric information to train and deploy artificial intelligence systems.
Texas should look to data privacy and consumer protection laws for inspiration. States that regulate the use of artificial intelligence rightly focus on transparency, accountability and anti-discrimination measures. It would be consistent with many other consumer and privacy laws to protect residents from abusive, inappropriate, irrelevant, or unauthorized use or reuse of consumer data. Texans should also be protected from unjustified assessments based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, religion or disability.
Colorado, Maryland, Tennessee, Illinois and California also have transparency and accountability standards to give consumers and regulators recourse when lines are crossed, according to the Council of State Governments. And to mitigate false information based on the biases or inaccuracies in AI programs, lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Louisiana and Vermont hold companies responsible for unintended but foreseeable impacts or uses of artificial intelligence systems. Some states also require an employer to receive consent from an employee if the business intends to use an AI system to collect data about its workforce.
The entire world is slowly awakening to a technology that is exploding faster and wider than any technology in the history of the planet. The European Union recently established rules around artificial intelligence use. Congress and major companies that develop and use artificial intelligence systems are so gridlocked that states are trying to fill this regulatory vacuum on behalf of their residents.
It is good that Texas is beginning a serious conversation about the use of artificial intelligence systems. It should enact comprehensive and enforceable consumer protections. Providing Texans with more say on how data is used and recourse when companies abuse consumer trust would be smart public policy.
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Saturday started out a bit warm and sticky outside in North Texas, but there will be plenty of sunshine in the afternoon. Temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 80s. Most of the area will stay dry today, but there is a chance for an isolated storm that could reach severe criteria late tonight for counties to the northwest of the metroplex.
Make sure you have an indoor plan for Mother’s Day celebrations tomorrow! Sunday morning will start warm, muggy, and dry for most with the exception of an isolated storm possible along the Red River.
A First Alert Weather Day is in place on Sunday due to a front that will swing across North Texas in the late afternoon through the evening. All modes of severe weather will be likely, but the main threat includes a significant risk of hail up to 2 inches in diameter and winds up to category 1 hurricane strength.
Once the front moves through, cooler temperatures will settle into the forecast on Monday. However, the cool down won’t last long. A warming trend returns and temperatures climb into the 90’s once again at the end of the next week. Stay tuned!
Just days before Mother’s Day, a North Texas father is grieving the sudden loss of his wife and unborn son after she died unexpectedly, only days before her due date. Avi Carey said he is still in shock over the death of his wife, Tiffany, whom he described as his “rock” and “soulmate.”
“Tiffany’s smile, her radiance, her presence … she didn’t meet a stranger,” Carey said.
Nearly two decades together
The couple had been together for nearly two decades, raising two children, Kingston and Kasyn, and preparing to welcome their third child, a baby boy they planned to name Kylo.
Carey said Tiffany began complaining of a severe headache just days before she was due to give birth. He recalled her sitting on the couch, dozing off multiple times – something he said was unusual.
A short time later, Carey found her unresponsive.
“I saw her face … her lips were blue. And I already knew,” he said with tears in his eyes.
A celebration turned to heartbreak
Tiffany Carey and her unborn son died May 2, leaving behind a grieving husband and two children. The loss came less than a week after the family had celebrated a baby shower.
“We went from celebrating the baby shower to planning a funeral in less than five days,” Carey said.
A crisis affecting Black mothers
Health officials say cases like this highlight a broader crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women in the United States are more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy‑related causes, and most of those deaths – around 80% – are considered preventable.
Carey said he is still searching for answers and now lives with questions about whether warning signs were missed.
“I would say educate yourself. Take everything seriously,” he said. “That should have been a red flag … the headache.”
Honoring Tiffany’s legacy
Now, surrounded by baby supplies meant for a child who never arrived, Carey said he is focused on honoring Tiffany’s memory and raising their children with the values she lived by.
“She always said, ‘You’ve got to lead with love,’” he said. “She did that in everything.”
Trump administration to release UFO files soon, president says
President Trump said his administration plans to release information and materials relating to UFOs.
Ever look up at the vast Texas sky and see something move across it? It could be a shooting star, a satellite — or a UFO.
The Pentagon released several documents Friday, May 8, detailing sightings of unidentified flying objects, or “bogeys,” in U.S. airspace, including reports from Texas.
The documents were released by the U.S. Department of Defense at the directive of President Donald Trump, marking the release of government files related to “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)” and UFOs.
“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a statement.
Here’s a look at the files related to Texas.
UFO spotted in 1948 above Abilene, Texas
A DoD incident summary shows that on Jan. 1, 1948, a man identified as “Mr. A. Schroeder” reported a UFO in the 1100 block of Highland Ave in Abilene, Texas.
Schroeder reported seeing a stationary bright blue-green bell-shaped object in the western sky above Abilene at 1:25 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.
Fort Worth man sees UFO above Alaska
Also in 1948, Lt. Aytch Johnson noticed a silver flat disk in the sky in Fairbanks, Alaska.
According to the incident report, the Fort Worth man observed the object flying over Alaska at around 1:06 p.m. on April 18, 1948, at an estimated speed of 250 to 300 miles per hour.
The report also noted that the sighting “may have been the reflection of sun from wings” of aircrafts flying in the area at the time.
Possible UFO sighting during the NASA Gemini 7 space launch
The DoD released the transcript and audio file of NASA’s Gemini 7 mission in 1965 when astronaut Frank Borman reported to NASA mission control in Houston his sighting of an unidentified object, which he referred to as a “bogey.”
While the launch didn’t take place in Texas, the report came back to space control in Houston.
The conversation occurred on Dec. 5, 1965 — 4 hours and 24 minutes into the flight — when Borman notified space control that there was a “bogey” on their left-hand side.
When asked to clarify what they are seeing, Borman said he was seeing “hundreds of little particles” on their left, about three to four miles away.
As NASA Public Affairs clarified, the bogey was an unidentified object, along with the particles.
Pentagon documents report of other possible sightings in Texas
Some documents have connections or reports of possible UFO sightings in Texas, but are missing details to understand the situation.
For example, the DoD received a clipping from the Yoakum Times-Record reporting UFO sightings by Mrs. Anna Banys in 1947, but it is unclear why she was writing to the DoD.
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
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