Tennessee AI Laws: ELVIS Act and What's Next (2027)

As of November 2026, Tennessee has not enacted a comprehensive AI law. Its best-known AI-related law is the ELVIS Act (HB 2091, Public Chapter 588), in force since July 1, 2024, which protects a person's voice, name, photograph and likeness. Public Chapter 647 (SB 1580) adds a ban on advertising an AI system as a qualified mental health professional.

Tennessee also has deepfake laws, an AI Advisory Council, a clause saying AI is not a "person" in the Code, and two study acts. Its large chatbot safety bill, SB 2171 / HB 1898, did not pass. For other states, see our AI laws by state guide.

ELVIS Act (HB 2091, Public Chapter 588): Tennessee's Voice and Likeness Law

The Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024 was signed in March 2024 and took effect July 1, 2024. The governor's office held a signing ceremony on March 21, and the legislature records the signature on March 26. It passed the House 93-0 and the Senate 30-0.

The act amended and renamed Tennessee's Personal Rights Protection Act of 1984, at T.C.A. 47-25-1101 and following sections. The enacted wording comes from the bill as rewritten by House Amendment 1. Neither text uses the words "artificial intelligence". It reaches AI through its definition of voice and its reference to an "algorithm, software, tool, or other technology, service, or device."

The right. Section 47-25-1103(a) reads, "Every individual has a property right in the use of that individual's name, photograph, voice, or likeness in any medium in any manner."

Voice. "Voice" means "a sound in a medium that is readily identifiable and attributable to a particular individual, regardless of whether the sound contains the actual voice or a simulation of the voice of the individual."

Three Ways to Be Liable Under the ELVIS Act

Section 47-25-1105(a) sets out three paths to a civil action:

1. Advertising and fundraising uses. A person who knowingly uses or infringes on an individual's name, photograph, voice or likeness for advertising products or services, or for fundraising or soliciting donations or purchases, without prior consent.
2. Making a voice or likeness available. A person who "publishes, performs, distributes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to the public an individual's voice or likeness, with knowledge that use of the voice or likeness was not authorized."
3. Tools. A person who "distributes, transmits, or otherwise makes available an algorithm, software, tool, or other technology, service, or device," whose "primary purpose or function" is "the production of a particular, identifiable individual's photograph, voice, or likeness, with knowledge that distributing, transmitting, or otherwise making available the photograph, voice, or likeness was not authorized."

The tool path is narrower than it was as filed. House Amendment 1 added "particular, identifiable" and the knowledge requirement. The test turns on the tool's primary purpose or function and the distributor's knowledge.

For a minor, consent or authorization comes from a parent or legal guardian. For a deceased individual, it comes from the executor or administrator, heirs or devisees.

ELVIS Act Fair Use Exceptions

House Amendment 1 also rewrote section 47-25-1107(a). "To the extent such use is protected by the First Amendment," it is fair use if the use of a name, photograph, voice or likeness is:

• In connection with any news, public affairs or sports broadcast or account.
• For comment, criticism, scholarship, satire or parody.
• A representation of the individual as the individual's self in an audiovisual work, unless the work is intended to create, and does create, the false impression that it is an authentic recording in which the individual participated.
• Fleeting or incidental.
• In an advertisement or commercial announcement for one of those works.

Owners and employees of advertising media, such as newspapers, radio and television stations and billboards, are covered only if they had knowledge or reasonably should have known of the unauthorized use, under section 47-25-1107(c).

ELVIS Act Remedies and Who Can Sue

The remedy sections below come from a stored copy of T.C.A. 47-25-1103 to -1107 retrieved in September 2026, plus the act's own text where it amended them. That copy is not a fresh check of the current Code. A court may grant injunctions, order impounding, and order destruction of infringing materials under section 47-25-1106.

An individual may recover actual damages from a knowing use or infringement, plus attributable profits not counted in those damages. The section's award of three times that amount plus reasonable attorney fees applies where a person knowingly uses or infringes the rights of a member of the armed forces. Remedies are cumulative.

Subsection (f), added by the act, says that where a person holds a contract for an individual's exclusive personal services as a recording artist, or an exclusive license to distribute sound recordings capturing the individual's audio performances, the action "may be brought by the person or the individual."

Section 47-25-1105(b) in that stored copy also makes unauthorized use under subsection (a) a Class A misdemeanor, in addition to the civil action.

How Long ELVIS Act Rights Last

The rights are assignable and licensable and survive death. Under section 47-25-1104, they are exclusive during life and for ten years after death. After that, the exclusive right ends on proof of two years of non-use for commercial purposes. As amended, "use" includes the commercial availability of a sound recording or audiovisual work in which the individual is readily identifiable.

SB 2655 (HB 2330), as introduced, would have raised the ten years to 100. As read November 4, 2026, the legislature's page showed its last action as a Senate Judiciary referral on February 5, 2026.

We did not search court dockets for ELVIS Act decisions, so this page does not describe how courts have applied it.

AI and Mental Health: Public Chapter 647 (SB 1580, T.C.A. 33-1-205)

The governor signed SB 1580 as Public Chapter 647 on April 6, 2026, after 32-0 and 94-0 votes, and it took effect July 1, 2026. The legislature's page lists no amendments.

Section 33-1-205(a) says, "A person who develops or deploys an artificial intelligence system shall not advertise or represent to the public that such system is or is able to act as a qualified mental health professional."

This is a limit on how a system is advertised or represented. By its words, it does not prohibit the tool itself. AI here means "models and systems capable of performing functions generally associated with human intelligence, including reasoning and learning."

A violation is a violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 and is "subject to the penalties and remedies" of that act. Notwithstanding that act's civil penalty limits, each violation carries a $5,000 civil penalty.

The CHAT Act and SB 1493: Enacted as Studies, Not Chatbot Rules

Two 2026 bills began as chatbot liability bills and ended as studies by the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR). Both were signed May 27, 2026.

CHAT Act (SB 1700, Public Chapter 1082). As filed, the Curbing Harmful AI Technology Act would have regulated companion and generative AI chatbots, with Attorney General penalties and private suits. Senate Amendment 1 replaced all of that with a study of "the potential regulation of artificial intelligence systems and generative artificial intelligence chatbots." Senate Amendment 2 removed the January 31, 2027 report deadline, so the act sets no date.

SB 1493, Public Chapter 1066. As filed, this bill would have made it a Class A felony to knowingly train AI to do listed things, such as encourage suicide or act as a companion, with civil suits and $150,000 liquidated damages. House Amendment 4 replaced that with a TACIR study of AI risks, including child safety and the risks of a chatbot engaging with a user as if it were human. TACIR's report is due to the governor and both speakers by January 31, 2027.

Neither act puts a duty on any chatbot company, and neither carries a penalty.

AI Is Not a "Person": Public Chapter 781 (SB 837)

SB 837, signed April 28, 2026, amends the Code's general definitions at T.C.A. 1-3-105. As rewritten by Senate Amendment 1, "person" includes a corporation, firm, company or association and "does not include artificial intelligence, a computer algorithm, a software program, computer hardware, or any type of machine." It passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 93-2.

Tennessee Deepfake Laws (Public Chapters 625, 466 and 712)

HB 1513, the Transparency for Deepfakes in Political Advertising Act (Public Chapter 625), was signed March 30, 2026 and took effect July 1, 2026. It requires set disclaimers on communications that are deepfakes of a candidate. For a non-incumbent, the rule applies only within 120 days of the initiation of voting.

The legislature's summary makes a violation a Class C misdemeanor and gives the candidate damages and equitable relief. House Amendment 1 limits liability for internet providers and for paid broadcasters that did not create the deepfake.

Public Chapter 466 (SB 1346 / HB 1299), the Preventing Deepfake Images Act, signed May 15, 2025 and in force since July 1, 2025, adds a civil action with $150,000 liquidated damages and felony offenses for nonconsensual intimate digital depictions. Public Chapter 712 (SB 2041), in force since July 1, 2026, adds a civil action for intimate image distribution. Details are on our Tennessee deepfake laws page.

Tennessee AI Advisory Council (HB 2325, Public Chapter 988)

The Tennessee Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council Act, signed May 29, 2024, created a 24-member council attached to the Department of Finance and Administration. Under House Amendment 2, its purpose is to recommend an action plan on awareness, education and use of AI in state government.

The act calls for annual reports by December 31 of 2025, 2026 and 2027, and a final report and action plan by December 31, 2028. Section 7 says, "This act is repealed on December 31, 2028." The council advises. The act does not regulate private AI systems.

Regulators and Enforcement

Insurance. Tennessee does not appear in the NAIC's status list, dated November 3, 2026, of states adopting its model bulletin on insurers' use of AI or issuing insurance-specific AI guidance. That list may not capture everything a regulator has said.

Attorney General. Attorneys general in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia announced separate suits against OpenAI on October 14, 2026. Official releases from several of those states also name Kansas. Tennessee is not among the states those releases name. We found no enforcement action under Tennessee's AI statutes, based on web searches, not a docket search.

AI in Hiring and Other Areas in Tennessee

We found no enacted Tennessee statute setting AI-specific duties in employment, insurance or frontier model safety. That rests on web searches and the legislature's bill pages for the laws named here. It was not a full-text search of Tennessee's public chapters, so a provision inside a broader act could be missed.

For automated decisions, the closest rule we found is in a privacy law. The Tennessee Information Protection Act (Public Chapter 408 of 2023), effective July 1, 2025, lets consumers opt out of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects, and it defines profiling as a form of solely automated processing.

It applies only to businesses above set revenue and consumer-count thresholds, and it does not cover a person acting in a commercial or employment context. It exempts government bodies, financial institutions, licensed insurance companies, HIPAA covered entities, nonprofits and higher education institutions, among others, and it gives no private right of action. That description comes from the enrolled chapter, read November 5, 2026. We read two later amendments, Public Chapter 201 of 2025 and Public Chapter 614 of 2026, and neither changes these points, but we did not search for every amendment.

For schools, Public Chapter 550 of 2024 (SB 1711), signed March 19, 2024, requires public higher education boards, local boards of education and public charter school governing bodies to adopt policies on AI use by students, teachers, faculty and staff for instructional and assignment purposes.

AI Note-Takers and Recording in Tennessee

For how Tennessee recording consent rules apply to AI meeting tools, see our Tennessee AI meeting recording laws page.

How Federal AI Policy Affects Tennessee

As of November 4, 2026, we found no federal statute in the public laws of the 119th Congress that sets general rules for private AI systems or generally preempts state AI laws. In December 2025, Executive Order 14365 directed federal agencies to challenge or discourage state AI laws the administration views as conflicting with national policy, and called for a federal framework from Congress. The order itself does not declare any state law invalid.

The Justice Department formed an AI Litigation Task Force in January 2026, the White House issued legislative recommendations in March 2026, and the FTC proposed a policy statement in July 2026. Separately, in April 2026 the Justice Department intervened in a lawsuit against Colorado's AI law under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We did not find a published Commerce evaluation of state laws in the Federal Register or on ntia.gov, or a BEAD notice carrying the order's AI condition on NTIA's sites. Our state AI law preemption page tracks this.

Tennessee AI Bills That Did Not Pass

These are the last actions on the legislature's pages as read November 4, 2026.

The House-passed HB 1898 carried a July 1, 2027 effective date in its amendments. It did not become law, so that date does not apply.

What Changes in Tennessee AI Law in 2027

As of November 4, 2026, we found no AI law scheduled to take effect in Tennessee in 2027; we searched the legislature's bill pages for the laws named here, plus the web, for the 2025 and 2026 sessions. That was not a full-text search of public chapters. These are the dated items we found:

• December 31, 2026: The AI Advisory Council's annual report is due, with another by December 31, 2027.
• January 31, 2027: TACIR's AI study report under Public Chapter 1066 is due to the governor and both speakers. Lawmakers could act on it, but a report changes no law by itself.
• No set date: TACIR's chatbot study under Public Chapter 1082. Senate Amendment 2 removed its deadline.
• December 31, 2028: The council's final report is due and its act is repealed.

This page is general legal information about Tennessee law as of November 4, 2026, not legal advice. Whether a law applies to a particular person or business depends on the facts, so consult a lawyer licensed in Tennessee for advice about your situation.

More Tennessee Laws

Explore other Tennessee law topics on Recording Law:

• Tennessee Recording Laws
• Tennessee Data Privacy Laws
• Tennessee Whistleblower Laws
• Tennessee Background Check Laws
• Tennessee Sexting Laws
• Tennessee Deepfake Laws
• Tennessee AI Meeting Recording Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Tennessee have an AI law?

Tennessee has no comprehensive AI law as of November 2026, but it has targeted ones. They include the ELVIS Act on voice and likeness, Public Chapter 647 on AI advertised as a mental health professional, deepfake laws, and a clause saying AI is not a person in the Code.

What is the ELVIS Act?

The Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024, HB 2091, Public Chapter 588. Signed in March 2024 and effective July 1, 2024, it gives every individual a property right in the use of their name, photograph, voice or likeness, and defines voice to include a simulation of an individual's voice.

Does the ELVIS Act ban AI voice cloning?

Not all of it. Liability depends on the use. It reaches knowing use for advertising or fundraising without consent, making a voice or likeness available to the public with knowledge that the use was not authorized, and distributing technology whose primary purpose or function is producing a particular, identifiable individual's voice with knowledge that doing so was not authorized. Uses such as news, criticism, satire and parody are fair use to the extent the First Amendment protects them.

Who can sue under the ELVIS Act?

The individual, or after death the executor or administrator, heirs or devisees. The act also lets a person holding a contract for an individual's exclusive personal services as a recording artist, or an exclusive license to distribute sound recordings of the individual's performances, bring the action.

What are the ELVIS Act damages?

Under T.C.A. 47-25-1106, an individual may recover actual damages from a knowing use or infringement plus attributable profits. The section adds three times that amount plus reasonable attorney fees where the rights of a member of the armed forces are knowingly infringed. A court may also grant injunctions and order materials impounded or destroyed.

Does Tennessee ban AI therapy?

No. T.C.A. 33-1-205 bars a person who develops or deploys an AI system from advertising or representing to the public that it is or can act as a qualified mental health professional. A violation carries a $5,000 civil penalty per violation under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.

What is the Tennessee CHAT Act?

SB 1700, Public Chapter 1082. As filed, it would have regulated companion and generative AI chatbots. As enacted, it only directs TACIR to study possible regulation, and it sets no report deadline.

Did Tennessee pass a chatbot law?

No chatbot duties were enacted. HB 1898 passed the House 94-0 on April 16, 2026, but it did not pass the Senate. The CHAT Act and SB 1493 were enacted only as studies.

Are deepfakes illegal in Tennessee?

Certain ones. HB 1513 requires disclaimers on political communications that are deepfakes of a candidate, and for a non-incumbent the rule applies only within 120 days of the initiation of voting. The Preventing Deepfake Images Act adds a civil action and felony offenses for nonconsensual intimate digital depictions.

Does Tennessee regulate AI in hiring?

We found no enacted Tennessee statute on it, based on web searches and legislature bill pages, not a full-text search of public chapters.

Will Tennessee AI law change in 2027?

As of November 4, 2026, we found no AI law scheduled to take effect in Tennessee in 2027. TACIR's AI study report is due January 31, 2027.