AI Laws in Nashville, Tennessee
AI Laws USA tracks 28 AI rules that apply to people and businesses in Nashville, Tennessee: 10+ federal rules, 11 Tennessee state-level rules, and 7 local Nashville ordinances. Coverage is strongest on government use of AI, data-center siting and energy, automated decision-making, and AI disclosure and transparency. 16 of these rules are already in effect. Each entry below links to its official source.
Nashville local AI rules (and Davidson County)
7 local AI rules specific to Nashville, Tennessee or Davidson County.
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In effect Strength: moderate
Nashville Permanent Data Center Zoning (500k sq ft cap + BZA approval)
Nashville, TN · Effective July 21, 2026 · Metro Nashville-Davidson County, permanent data center zoning ordinance (adopted July 21, 2026; 500k sq ft cap + heavy-industrial + BZA special exception)
Nashville's Metro Council enacted permanent data center zoning restrictions on July 21, 2026 — Davidson County's first-ever data center land-use rules. The ordinance bans data centers over 500,000 square feet anywhere in the county. Data centers under that threshold must be located in heavy-industrial (HI) zones and must obtain a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals after a public hearing. The rules were driven by a proposed data center adjacent to the Nashville Zoo and by the largest public-comment turnout in Metro Council history. A companion temporary moratorium (until December 1, 2026) was enacted the same night. Mayor Freddie O'Connell separately advanced eminent-domain legislation to acquire the Zoo-adjacent DC Blox parcel.
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Proposed / pending
Nashville/Davidson County temporary moratorium on data centers
Nashville-Davidson County · Metro Nashville/Davidson data-center moratorium ordinance (first reading June 10, 2026)
Temporary moratorium on the acceptance, processing, approval and issuance of zoning, building or grading permits for data centers across Davidson County. Cites high electrical demand, backup generators, fuel storage, battery systems, substations, cooling, noise, lighting, stormwater, security fencing, and 24-hour operations. Two companion zoning bills (also introduced June 2) would define data centers in Metro code, create size-and-power categories, and set siting conditions.
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Blocked / in litigation
DC Blox v. Metro Nashville data center moratorium suit
Nashville, TN · DC Blox v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County (M.D. Tenn. 2026)
A data center company, DC Blox, sued Metro Nashville in federal court in August 2026 over the city's data center moratorium, new data center zoning rules, and the hold placed on its permits for a site next to the Nashville Zoo. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in October 2026 but allowed the company 21 days to file a revised complaint. Metro's moratorium and zoning rules stay in place.
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In effect Strength: moderate
Nashville Surveillance Equipment Council-Approval Ordinance (Metro Code 13.08.080)
Nashville, TN · Effective May 16, 2017 · Ord. BL2017-646 (2017-05-16)
Requires Metro Council approval before any law-enforcement deployment or contracting of surveillance technology on public rights-of-way.
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In effect Strength: limited
Metro Nashville GenAI Policy
Nashville, TN · Effective July 1, 2024 · Metro Nashville ITS, ISM-20: Artificial Intelligence and Generative Artificial Intelligence Use (Aug 2025)
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County administrative policy on generative AI tool use by employees, with disclosure and data-handling rules.
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In effect Strength: moderate
Nashville Data Center Moratorium (effective through Dec 1, 2026)
Nashville, TN · Effective July 21, 2026 · Metro Nashville-Davidson County, ordinance adopted July 21, 2026 (data center moratorium, effective through Dec 1, 2026)
Nashville's Metro Council enacted a temporary countywide freeze on new data center permits on July 21, 2026, pausing acceptance and processing of zoning, building, and grading approvals through December 1, 2026, while permanent data center zoning rules are finalized. The moratorium was driven by a proposed data center adjacent to the Nashville Zoo and the largest public-comment turnout in Metro Council history (200+ speakers over a marathon overnight session in July). The Metro Council also advanced Mayor Freddie O'Connell's eminent-domain legislation to acquire the Zoo-adjacent parcel targeted by DC Blox.
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In effect Strength: limited
Metro Nashville Police Drones as First Responder Trial Progr
Nashville, TN (Metro Nashville Police Department) · Effective May 22, 2026 · Metro Nashville Police Drones as First Responder Trial Program
Metro Nashville Police runs a DFR trial using three Skydio drones dispatched only to specific emergency calls, with no facial recognition or routine patrol and non-evidentiary footage deleted after 7 days.
Tennessee-level AI rules most relevant to Nashville
11 Tennessee state rules apply to residents and businesses in Nashville. Showing the 8 most relevant to Nashville's local picture; 3 more are on the Tennessee jurisdiction page.
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In effect Strength: limited
UT System Policy IT0002 / procedure, Acceptable Use of Gener
University of Tennessee System · Effective March 1, 2025 · UT System Policy IT0002 / procedure, Acceptable Use of Generative AI
The University of Tennessee System's acceptable-use policy for generative AI bars entering FERPA/HIPAA-protected and confidential data into AI tools and requires independent verification and disclosure of AI-generated content.
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In effect Strength: limited
Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Policy (200-POL-007)
Tennessee · Effective January 1, 2024 · Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Policy (200-POL-007)
Tennessee's Department of Finance and Administration (Strategic Technology Solutions) sets minimum requirements for valid, reliable, transparent, and ethical use of AI across state departments, requiring monitoring of AI design, deployment, and procurement to minimize negative impacts.
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In effect Strength: limited
Attorney General Skrmetti Leads 44 States in Demanding Compa
Tennessee · Effective August 25, 2025 · Attorney General Skrmetti Leads 44 States in Demanding Companies End Predatory AI Interactions with Kids
Tennessee's Attorney General led a bipartisan coalition of 44 states in a demand letter to 12 major AI companies to implement safeguards against sexualized AI chatbot interactions with minors, applying consumer-protection authority to AI harms.
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In effect Strength: limited
TN SB 151 (2017 AV Act)
Tennessee · Effective July 1, 2017 · 2017 Tenn. Pub. Acts Ch. 474; Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 55-30-101 et seq.
Tennessee's Automated Vehicles Act authorized fully driverless operation on Tennessee roads, set minimum-insurance requirements for AV networks ($5 million coverage), explicitly preempted local AV-specific regulation, and treated the automated driving system as the legal operator for traffic-law purposes.
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In effect Strength: limited
TN HB 1847 data center ratepayer protection (2026)
TN · Effective July 1, 2026 · Tenn. HB 1847/SB 2128 (114th G.A., 2026) — signed May 7, 2026; eff. July 1, 2026
Tennessee HB 1847/SB 2128, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, requires data centers drawing 50 megawatts or more of electricity to pay their proportionate share of transmission and distribution infrastructure costs, rather than spreading those costs across all utility ratepayers. The law prevents large hyperscale data centers from being cross-subsidized by ordinary residential and small commercial customers.
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In effect Strength: moderate
TN drone trespass / FFUSA
Tennessee · Effective July 1, 2014 · Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-609, 39-13-902 to -905
Tennessee prohibits warrantless drone surveillance by law enforcement, makes it a misdemeanor for any person to capture images of an individual or private property from a drone without consent, and bars using drones to surveil critical infrastructure or fireworks/sporting events.
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In effect Strength: limited
Tennessee Information Protection Act (opt out of automated profiling decisions)
Tennessee · Effective July 1, 2025 · Tenn. Code Ann. 47-18-3301 et seq. (TIPA); profiling opt-out at 47-18-3304
Tennessee's consumer privacy law gives state residents rights over how businesses handle their personal information, including the right to opt out of profiling that is carried out solely through automated processing and used to make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects. Businesses that act as controllers must also conduct and document data protection assessments for higher-risk processing activities, including certain profiling. The Tennessee Attorney General has exclusive enforcement authority, and there is no private right of action.
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In effect Strength: moderate
ELVIS Act
Tennessee · Effective July 1, 2024 · Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 47-25-1101 to -1108 (ELVIS Act, 2024)
The first US law protecting voices from AI cloning: Tennessee added 'voice' to its right-of-publicity law, so using AI to mimic someone's voice or likeness without permission is both a civil violation and a crime. It also allows lawsuits against those who distribute tools whose primary purpose is producing unauthorized voice or likeness replicas.
Federal AI rules that apply in Nashville, Tennessee
These federal rules apply everywhere in the United States, including Nashville, Tennessee. 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 Nashville, Tennessee
Are there AI laws in Nashville, Tennessee?
What federal AI rules apply in Nashville?
Does Tennessee have an AI privacy law?
Are deepfakes illegal in Tennessee?
Can my employer use AI to screen me for jobs in Nashville?
How do I report an AI law violation in Nashville?
Are facial recognition cameras allowed in Nashville?
Is Nashville regulated by Tennessee's consumer privacy act?
Have we missed an AI rule in Nashville?
This page is generated from our open civic dataset. If you know of a Nashville 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.