AI Laws in Lincoln, Nebraska
AI Laws USA tracks 19 AI rules that apply to people and businesses in Lincoln, Nebraska: 10+ federal rules, 9 Nebraska state-level rules (no Lincoln-specific ordinances are indexed yet). Coverage is strongest on consumer protection, automated decision-making, data-center siting and energy, and government use of AI. 8 of these rules are already in effect. Each entry below links to its official source.
Lincoln local AI rules (and Lancaster County)
No city- or county-specific AI ordinances are currently indexed for Lincoln, Nebraska.
- No local entries yet: we don't currently index any Lincoln-specific AI ordinances. Federal and Nebraska state rules still apply throughout the city. Have we missed something? Email feedback@ailawsusa.com.
Nebraska-level AI rules most relevant to Lincoln
9 Nebraska state rules apply to residents and businesses in Lincoln. Showing the 8 most relevant to Lincoln's local picture; 1 more are on the Nebraska jurisdiction page.
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In effect Strength: limited
NE LB 989 (2018 AV)
Nebraska · Effective April 25, 2018 · Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 60-3,201 et seq.
Nebraska's Driverless-Capable Vehicle Act explicitly allows fully driverless operation on Nebraska public roads, treats the automated driving system as the driver for traffic-law purposes, sets minimum insurance ($5 million for on-demand AV networks), and preempts local regulation.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Nebraska LB 1261 behind-the-meter generation (2026)
Nebraska · Effective July 17, 2026 · Neb. L.B. 1261 (2026)
Nebraska Legislative Bill 1261 requires large energy users to generate their own electricity behind the meter, so that increased power demand is not paid for by Nebraska ratepayers. Governor Jim Pillen signed it in June 2026 and his office described it as landmark behind-the-meter legislation aimed at preserving the state's existing energy production. Nebraska is unusual in that its electricity is entirely publicly owned — it is the only all-public-power state in the country — which makes the cost-shifting question sharper than elsewhere: there are no shareholders to absorb a mismatch, so any unfunded load lands directly on other public power customers. LB 1261 sits alongside Governor Pillen's July 20, 2026 executive order suspending state tax incentives for large-scale data centers and creating a resource-protection task force, and the two together are Nebraska's answer to hyperscale demand: bring your own generation, and do not expect a subsidy.
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In effect Strength: limited
NE DOI AI Bulletin
NE · Effective June 11, 2024 · Nebraska Insurance Guidance Document IGD-H1 (2024-06-11)
The NE Department of Insurance adopted the NAIC Model Bulletin on Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers. Insurers licensed in NE must maintain a written AI program with governance, risk-management, testing, third-party-AI oversight, and documentation controls. The bulletin operationalizes existing unfair-trade-practice and unfair-discrimination law as applied to insurers' AI use cases — underwriting, pricing, claims, fraud detection, and marketing.
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In effect Strength: limited
Nebraska NDPA
Nebraska · Effective January 1, 2025 · Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 87-901 et seq. (LB 1074, 108th Leg., 2024), eff. Jan. 1, 2025
Nebraska's comprehensive consumer privacy law gives residents the right to access, correct, delete, and port their personal data and to opt out of targeted advertising, data sales, and automated profiling used in decisions with significant legal or financial effects. The Attorney General enforces with fines up to $7,500 per violation with no private right of action.
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Enacted (not yet in effect) Strength: limited
Nebraska LB 525 (AI chatbot disclosure & crisis protocol)
Nebraska · Effective July 1, 2027 · Neb. Laws 2026, LB 525, Secs. 12-18 (Conversational Artificial Intelligence Safety Act)
Nebraska's Conversational Artificial Intelligence Safety Act regulates publicly available AI chatbots that simulate human conversation. When a reasonable person would be misled into thinking they are talking to a human, the operator must clearly disclose that they are interacting with AI, and minors must always be told they are interacting with AI. Operators must adopt a protocol for responding to messages about suicidal thoughts or self-harm by referring users to crisis services, and must not program the service to claim it provides professional mental or behavioral health care.
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In effect Strength: moderate
Nebraska LB 77 (no AI-only prior-auth denials)
Nebraska · Effective January 1, 2026 · Neb. LB 77 (109th Leg., 2025), operative Jan. 1, 2026
Nebraska's Ensuring Transparency in Prior Authorization Act bars utilization review agents from using an AI-based algorithm or automated system as the sole basis for denying, delaying, or modifying a health care service based, in whole or in part, on medical necessity. Any prior authorization denial based on medical necessity must involve human clinical review, not AI alone. The law also requires a single standardized prior authorization form of no more than two pages, streamlining the administrative process. Signed June 4, 2025 by Governor Pillen; effective January 1, 2026.
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In effect Strength: limited
Nebraska Gov. Pillen EO rescinding ImagiNE Act data center incentives for new applications
Nebraska · Effective July 20, 2026 · Nebraska Executive Order (Gov. Jim Pillen, July 20, 2026) — Rescinding ImagiNE Act data center tax incentives for new applications
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed an executive order on July 20, 2026 rescinding data centers' access to tax incentives under the ImagiNE Nebraska Act for all new applications. Existing approved data center projects are not affected. The order also establishes a Data Center Task Force through the Department of Water, Energy and Environment to evaluate incoming major data center proposals and assess their impact on Nebraska's land, water, and public power system. Pillen stated the order is not a moratorium on data centers, and local governments retain authority over construction decisions. Nebraska data centers had received approximately $519 million in property tax exemptions since 2021 under the ImagiNE Act. Nebraska is also the only U.S. state where 100 percent of electricity is provided by publicly owned utilities. In June 2026, Pillen had signed LB 1261, which prevents new data centers from depending on power built and funded by Nebraska ratepayers.
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In effect Strength: limited
NE Synthetic NCII Civil Remedy
Nebraska · Effective May 30, 2025 · Neb. LB 371, 109th Leg., 1st Sess. (2025), approved May 30, 2025
Nebraska extended its existing civil remedies act for unauthorized disclosure of intimate images to explicitly cover computer-generated or digitally manipulated depictions, including AI deepfakes. Victims can sue civilly when AI-fabricated intimate imagery is shared without consent. The bill passed 49-0.
Federal AI rules that apply in Lincoln, Nebraska
These federal rules apply everywhere in the United States, including Lincoln, Nebraska. Showing the 10 strongest and most recent.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TVA data center capacity commitment charge (2026)
Tennessee Valley Authority · Effective October 1, 2026 · Tenn. Valley Auth. Bd. of Dirs. — Data Center Capacity Commitment Charge (approved Aug. 20, 2026; eff. Oct. 1, 2026)
The Tennessee Valley Authority's Board of Directors approved a separate, higher wholesale rate for data centers on August 20, 2026, effective October 1. New or expanding data center loads above 5 megawatts now fall under a Capacity Commitment Charge attached to TVA's data center rate schedules, designed to recover the incremental capacity costs those customers impose on the system. The headline figures are substantial: upfront capacity commitment charges of roughly $1.5 million per megawatt, payable over three to five years, and an all-in average billing increase for data center customers of about 10%, phased in across three consecutive fiscal years. The stated purpose is to keep residential rates low while still serving growing data center demand. TVA matters here out of proportion to a single utility. It is a federal corporate agency supplying power across seven states, so this is not a state rate case but a regional cost-allocation decision reaching a large share of the Southeast — and TVA is among the first large US utilities to adopt a tariff aimed specifically at AI-driven load. Where most 2026 measures in this dataset restrict where data centers may be built, this one changes what they pay to run.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Bartz v. Anthropic
N.D. Cal. · Effective September 5, 2025 · Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417 (N.D. Cal.)
Authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson sued Anthropic over its use of pirated-book datasets to train Claude. In June 2025 Judge William Alsup ruled that training on lawfully purchased books was fair use. The piracy claims (LibGen ingestion) proceeded toward settlement; in September 2025 Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion class settlement covering ~500,000 works. Judge Alsup granted preliminary approval September 25, 2025 and final approval July 20, 2026. The appeal period runs through August 19, 2026; class members will not receive payments until at least end of 2026.
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In effect Strength: stronger
COPPA + 2025 Rule (childrens data)
United States · Effective June 23, 2025 · 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506; 16 C.F.R. Part 312
COPPA requires online services aimed at children under 13 to get verifiable parental consent before collecting kids' personal data. The 2025 rule update — fully in effect since April 22, 2026 — adds biometric identifiers (like face templates and voiceprints, which matter for AI tools), requires separate parental consent before sharing children's data for targeted advertising, and tightens data retention limits.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TAKE IT DOWN Act
United States · Effective May 19, 2025 · Pub. L. No. 119-12 (S. 146)
Makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images of someone without consent, including AI-generated deepfakes. Social media and similar platforms must give victims a way to request removal and must take the content (and known copies) down within 48 hours. The platform removal requirement became enforceable May 19, 2026, and the FTC has already begun enforcement.
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Blocked / in litigation
NetChoice v. Yost (Ohio)
S.D. Ohio · Effective April 16, 2025 · NetChoice, LLC v. Yost, No. 2:24-cv-00047 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 16, 2025)
Ohio's Social Media Parental Notification Act — requiring parental consent for minors' social-media use, including algorithmic feeds — was preliminarily enjoined on February 12, 2024, then permanently enjoined on April 16, 2025 when the district court granted summary judgment for NetChoice. The state appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which vacated the district court's injunction in 2026.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Thaler v. Perlmutter (Copyright)
D.C. Cir. · Effective March 18, 2025 · Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025)
The companion copyright case: Stephen Thaler sought to register a copyright with 'Creativity Machine' (his AI) as the author. The D.C. Circuit affirmed in March 2025 that the Copyright Act's human-authorship requirement is dispositive as a matter of statutory law. AI cannot be a copyright author under U.S. law.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Louis v. SafeRent
D. Mass. · Effective November 20, 2024 · Louis v. SafeRent Solutions, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-10800 (D. Mass.)
SafeRent agreed in November 2024 to a $2.275M settlement and a five-year ban on using its 'SafeRent Score' for housing-voucher applicants, after a class action alleged its AI tenant-screening tool systematically denied housing to Black and Hispanic Section 8 voucher holders. The first major AI tenant-screening Fair Housing Act settlement.
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In effect Strength: stronger
FTC Impersonation Rule (AI)
United States · Effective April 1, 2024 · 16 C.F.R. Part 461; 89 Fed. Reg. 15017
The FTC's Impersonation Rule lets the agency directly sue scammers who pretend to be a government agency or a real business — including those who use AI-cloned voices or generated images to do so. Civil penalties can reach $53,088 per violation. The FTC also issued a supplemental notice in February 2024 proposing to extend the rule to all individual impersonation.
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In effect Strength: stronger
FTC v. Rite Aid
FTC · Effective February 26, 2024 · FTC v. Rite Aid Corp., No. 2:23-cv-05023 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 19, 2023)
The FTC banned Rite Aid from using facial-recognition technology in its stores for five years after finding the pharmacy chain's FRT system falsely tagged customers — disproportionately women and people of color — as shoplifters, leading to wrongful detentions and humiliations.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TCPA (AI voice calls)
United States · Effective February 8, 2024 · 47 U.S.C. § 227; FCC 24-17
Robocalls using AI-cloned or AI-generated voices are treated like other 'artificial voice' calls: callers need your prior express consent, must identify themselves, and must offer opt-outs for telemarketing. You can personally sue violators for $500 to $1,500 per illegal call.
Frequently asked questions about AI laws in Lincoln, Nebraska
Are there AI laws in Lincoln, Nebraska?
What federal AI rules apply in Lincoln?
Does Nebraska have an AI privacy law?
Are deepfakes illegal in Nebraska?
Can my employer use AI to screen me for jobs in Lincoln?
How do I report an AI law violation in Lincoln?
Are facial recognition cameras allowed in Lincoln?
Is Lincoln regulated by Nebraska's consumer privacy act?
Have we missed an AI rule in Lincoln?
This page is generated from our open civic dataset. If you know of a Lincoln ordinance, county rule, or local enforcement action we should add, email feedback@ailawsusa.com or submit a correction. Every entry must include a verifiable source.