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AI Laws in Nashville, Tennessee
As of 2026-08-12, AI Laws USA tracks 26 AI rules that apply to people and businesses in Nashville, Tennessee: 10+ federal protections, 11 Tennessee state-level rules, and 5 local Nashville ordinances. Coverage is strongest on government use of AI, automated decision-making, consumer protection, and data-center siting and energy. 15 of these rules are already in effect. Each entry below links to its official source.
Nashville local AI rules (and Davidson County)
5 local AI rules specific to Nashville, Tennessee or Davidson County.
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In effect Moderate protection
Nashville Permanent Data Center Zoning (500k sq ft cap + BZA approval)
Nashville, TN · Effective 2026-07-21 · 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 Proposed or 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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In effect Moderate protection
Nashville Surveillance Equipment Council-Approval Ordinance (Metro Code 13.08.080)
Nashville, TN · Effective 2017-05-16 · 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 Limited protection
Metro Nashville GenAI Policy
Nashville, TN · Effective 2024-07-01 · 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 Moderate protection
Nashville Data Center Moratorium (effective through Dec 1, 2026)
Nashville, TN · Effective 2026-07-21 · 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.
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 Limited protection
Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Policy (200-POL-007)
Tennessee · Effective 2024-01-01 · 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 Limited protection
UT System Policy IT0002 / procedure, Acceptable Use of Gener
University of Tennessee System · Effective 2025-03-01 · 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 Limited protection
TN SB 151 (2017 AV Act)
Tennessee · Effective 2017-07-01 · 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 Limited protection
Attorney General Skrmetti Leads 44 States in Demanding Compa
Tennessee · Effective 2025-08-25 · 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 Limited protection
TN HB 1847 data center ratepayer protection (2026)
TN · Effective 2026-07-01 · 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 Limited protection
Tennessee Information Protection Act (opt out of automated profiling decisions)
Tennessee · Effective 2025-07-01 · 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 Moderate protection
TN drone trespass / FFUSA
Tennessee · Effective 2014-07-01 · 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 Moderate protection
ELVIS Act
Tennessee · Effective 2024-07-01 · 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 protections apply everywhere in the United States, including Nashville, Tennessee. Showing the 10 strongest and most recent.
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In effect Stronger protection
Bartz v. Anthropic
N.D. Cal. · Effective 2025-09-05 · 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 Stronger protection
Benavides v. Tesla (Autopilot)
S.D. Fla. · Effective 2025-08-01 · Benavides v. Tesla, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-21940 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 1, 2025)
A Florida federal jury found Tesla 33% liable in August 2025 for the 2019 death of Naibel Benavides Leon, in a crash involving Autopilot. The jury awarded $243M ($129M compensatory + $200M punitive); in February 2026 the court denied Tesla's post-trial motions and upheld the verdict in full — the first Autopilot wrongful-death verdict against Tesla.
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In effect Stronger protection
COPPA + 2025 Rule (childrens data)
United States · Effective 2025-06-23 · 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 Stronger protection
TAKE IT DOWN Act
United States · Effective 2025-05-19 · 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 Stronger protection
NetChoice v. Yost (Ohio)
S.D. Ohio · Effective 2025-04-16 · 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 Stronger protection
Thaler v. Perlmutter (Copyright)
D.C. Cir. · Effective 2025-03-18 · 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 Stronger protection
Thomson Reuters v. Ross
D. Del. · Effective 2025-02-11 · Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. Ross Intelligence, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-00613 (D. Del. Feb. 11, 2025)
Thomson Reuters sued legal-research startup Ross Intelligence in 2020 for copying Westlaw headnotes to train a competing AI legal-research tool. In February 2025, Judge Stephanos Bibas (sitting by designation) granted summary judgment to Thomson Reuters on direct copyright infringement and rejected Ross's fair-use defense — the first definitive U.S. ruling on AI-training fair use. No jury trial occurred: a 2023 opinion had denied summary judgment and pointed toward trial, but the court invited renewed briefing and reversed course in the 2025 ruling.
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In effect Stronger protection
Louis v. SafeRent
D. Mass. · Effective 2024-11-20 · 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 Stronger protection
FTC Impersonation Rule (AI)
United States · Effective 2024-04-01 · 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 Stronger protection
TCPA (AI voice calls)
United States · Effective 2024-02-08 · 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.