--- title: "Tennessee AI Law Tracker — 2026 | EFROS" description: "Tennessee AI laws, pending bills, sector overlays, and compliance checklist. Citation-ready research from EFROS, updated quarterly. Edition 2026-Q2." canonical: https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/tennessee/ --- - [Home](https://efros.com/) - /[Research](https://efros.com/research/) - /[State AI Law Tracker](https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/) - /Tennessee Primary Research · State Profile · TN # Tennessee AI Law Tracker — 2026 Tennessee was the first US state to enact an AI-specific law protecting voice, image, and likeness from unauthorized AI generation. The ELVIS Act (Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, HB 2091/SB 2096), signed by Governor Bill Lee in March 2024 and effective July 1, 2024, was designed in close coordination with the Nashville music industry to address AI-generated voice clones, deepfake images, and unauthorized digital replicas. The Act extends Tennessee's existing right of publicity to expressly cover AI-generated replicas of voice and visual likeness, with civil liability and a Class C misdemeanor for knowing violations. Tennessee's regulatory posture in 2026 is the leading edge of state-level voice and likeness protection in the generative AI era. The ELVIS Act applies to any person making, distributing, or using AI-generated voice or visual likenesses without consent. That reaches past commercial misuse into the broader generative AI ecosystem of voice cloning, deepfake creation, and synthetic content tools. The right of publicity descends 10 years post-mortem, which is materially shorter than some state regimes but explicitly addresses AI-generated content of deceased individuals. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the state AG have indicated active enforcement interest, and Nashville's music industry has been vocal about expecting AI vendors to implement consent-verification workflows for any commercial voice or image generation involving Tennessee-based artists. By [Stefan Efros](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanefros-cyberdefense/), CEO & Founder, EFROS Updated · July 25, 2026 ## Enacted Tennessee AI laws ### Tennessee ELVIS Act (Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, HB 2091/SB 2096) in force **Citation** Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-25-1101 et seq. **Effective date** 2024-07-01 Key provisions Consent required before producing AI-generated voice or visual likeness; right of publicity descends 10 years post-mortem; civil liability for unauthorized AI replication; Class C misdemeanor for knowing violations; actual + statutory damages, attorney fees, injunctive relief. ## Pending Tennessee AI legislation ### ELVIS Act expansion proposals **Status** Discussion stage 2025-2026 **Expected enactment** Possible amendments addressing platform liability and notice-and-takedown The music industry and TBI have signaled interest in clarifying platform liability for hosted AI-generated likenesses. Watch the 2026 session for amendments. ## Sector overlays in Tennessee Sector-specific frameworks layer on top of state AI laws and frequently impose stricter or earlier-binding obligations. These are the sectors most exposed in Tennessee. Entertainment / Media The binding constraint. AI vendors generating voice clones or visual likenesses for entertainment use need explicit Tennessee-aware consent flows. Marketing / Advertising Voice clones of celebrities, athletes, or any Tennessee individual for commercial use trigger the Act. Synthetic media in ads is materially exposed. Platforms / Generative AI tools Voice and image generation tools serving Tennessee users need consent verification or takedown processes for misuse. Healthcare and education AI-generated avatars or voice clones for training, simulation, or telemedicine require explicit consent. ## Compliance checklist for Tennessee Practical operational checklist for organizations subject to Tennessee AI laws. Items are ordered by typical sequence of implementation, not by importance — most steps depend on the inventory work in the first item. - 1 ### Implement consent verification for AI voice and image generation Required before producing the AI-generated replica, not after. - 2 ### Build a notice-and-takedown workflow for platform-hosted AI content Address ELVIS Act claims promptly; document timelines. - 3 ### Maintain provenance records for AI-generated voice and image content Source consent, model used, generation date — needed if a claim is asserted. - 4 ### Train marketing and creative teams on ELVIS Act constraints Synthetic voice and image content in ads is exposed; pre-clear or use only consented likenesses. - 5 ### Coordinate with talent agencies and rights holders for consented likenesses Music industry expects formal licensing agreements covering AI use. - 6 ### Monitor TBI and state AG enforcement signals Active interest; expect early test cases. ## How EFROS helps Tennessee businesses comply EFROS supports Tennessee ELVIS Act compliance for AI vendors and content platforms — consent verification workflows, provenance documentation, notice-and-takedown engineering, and marketing-team training. Particularly relevant for AI vendors serving the Nashville entertainment industry or platforms with significant Tennessee user bases. [EFROS AI Governance service →](https://efros.com/services/ai-governance/?source=state-ai-tracker-tennessee) [Talk to Stefan Efros →](https://efros.com/contact/?source=state-ai-tracker-tennessee) [Run AI Risk Score →](https://efros.com/tools/ai-risk-score/?source=state-ai-tracker-tennessee) Disclaimer: this profile is a research dataset, not legal advice. Compliance determinations for Tennessee businesses require analysis of specific facts and should be made in consultation with qualified legal counsel licensed in Tennessee. ## Cite this resource Reference this resource with attribution under [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Copy any of the formats below for academic papers, blog posts, AI citations, or vendor evidence packages. APA (7th edition) ``` Efros, S. (2026, May). Tennessee AI Law Tracker — 2026. EFROS. https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/tennessee/ ``` MLA (9th edition) ``` Efros, Stefan. "Tennessee AI Law Tracker — 2026." EFROS, May 2026, https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/tennessee/. ``` Chicago (author-date) ``` Efros, Stefan. 2026. "Tennessee AI Law Tracker — 2026." EFROS. https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/tennessee/. ``` IEEE ``` S. Efros, "Tennessee AI Law Tracker — 2026," EFROS, May 2026. [Online]. Available: https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/tennessee/ ``` BibTeX ``` @misc{efros2026tennesseeailawtr, author = {Stefan Efros}, title = {Tennessee AI Law Tracker — 2026}, year = {2026}, month = {May}, publisher = {EFROS}, url = {https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/tennessee/}, note = {Accessed: May 2026} } ``` Plain text URL ``` https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/tennessee/ ``` Site-wide citation metadata is also published as a CITATION.cff file at [/CITATION.cff](https://efros.com/CITATION.cff) for citation-management tools and academic indexers. Related EFROS resources ## More state AI law profiles & adjacent research [### US State AI Law Tracker — full index All tracked US state AI laws in a single citation-ready dataset.Open→](https://efros.com/research/state-ai-law-tracker/) [### AI Vendor Governance Index 20 AI vendors scored on 12 US AI governance axes, including state-law overlays.Open→](https://efros.com/research/us-ai-vendor-governance-index/) [### NIST AI RMF Implementation Guide Federal framework that anchors most state AI law deployer obligations.Open→](https://efros.com/resources/nist-ai-rmf-implementation-guide/) [### EFROS AI Governance service Operating program that implements multi-state AI law compliance.Open→](https://efros.com/services/ai-governance/) [### AI Risk Score 5-minute classification across Colorado SB 26-189 (amended AI law), NYC LL144, CA AB 2013, and NIST AI RMF.Open→](https://efros.com/tools/ai-risk-score/)