Hello everyone! AITX Team here with more updates this week.
If you’re new here, welcome! 👋 At AITX, we aim to:
Connect you with like-minded peers passionate about AI.
Provide a space for sharing ideas and receiving feedback on AI projects you’re building.
Share helpful tools and invaluable resources.
Be sure to follow us on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Before we jump into the regular news, a few housekeeping items:
Upcoming AITX Community Events:
Austin AI Community: Christmas Soirée: Thursday, Dec 11 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM | sign up here!
To stay in the loop on all our monthly meetups and other community organized events, subscribe to our AITX Community calendar here.
Check out our Community Directory:
Where you can fill out your profile and find other members of the AITX community. If you haven’t filled out your profile yet, please follow the link HERE and submit your information.
NVIDIA DGX Spark Hackathon
AITX Community is partnering with NVIDIA, Arm, and ASUS this December with another hackathon centered around their new DGX Spark hardware.
When: 5:00 PM CST, December 12 - 4:00 PM CST, December 14
What: This Hackathon brings together the strongest frontier builders and engineers in Texas to push the boundary of what’s possible on next-generation NVIDIA compute.
25 teams will work hands-on with the ASUS Ascent GX10 to complete targeted Build Challenges provided by NVIDIA and local partner companies.
There will be prize packages for each Challenge winner as well as the overall Best Build.
This is a team-based hackathon. Full-team applications will be prioritized over individual applications.
Minimum team size is 2 and maximum team size is 5.
If you apply as an individual, we'll try our best to match you into a team, and you'll be required to compete with the team we match you with if accepted.
State of AI in Texas Report Survey Live!
Howdy! The State of AI in Texas Report (STAR) has been finalized. AITX Community and UT School of Law is excited to hear what the community has to say!
By mapping the AI landscape and understanding stakeholder interactions, we hope to identify key businesses involved with AI development in Texas. And by learning about AI product usage and how to support needs of new AI developers, we aim to provide a report that will both inform smart AI policy and serve as a guide for businesses on AI development.
THE WHO – We Want to Hear From You: If you’re based in Texas and work at Startups, Scaleups, or Enterprises, this survey is for you.
This is your chance to have your voice heard.
In this week’s edition you’re getting:
5 Upcoming Events
3 AI Community Stories
So let’s jump in!
UPCOMING EVENTS
When: Thursday, December 11 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM CST
Where: Register to see address
What: An end-of-year holiday celebration for the Austin AI community—engineers, founders, researchers, and operators. This year, we're partnering with SAFE Austin to help provide gifts for families in need this Holiday season. Tickets to the event are free, but we encourage you to donate to SAFE during registration or bring a small gift donation when you attend. 100% of revenue will be donated to SAFE Austin under their Holidays program.
When: Monday, December 15 | 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST
What: Getting started with any new development paradigm can be daunting, and building AI-powered applications is no different. In this session you'll learn how you can use various Docker technologies to simplify AI development. We'll cover the fundamental building blocks of AI applications, and how you can build on your local machine or in the cloud. By the end of this session you will possess the knowledge and confidence to go forward and start hacking on your first AI powered application.
When: Wed, January 7, 2026 | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM CST
What: We focus on agentic software development: multi-agent architectures, middleware patterns, LangChain + LangGraph workflows, DeepAgents, and real-world application building. Many presenters are power users of Claude Code, and we frequently explore how developers use it in their agent workflows.
When: Friday, December 5 | 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM CST
Where: Location TBD
What: Join us for the first-ever Physical AI Builders Meetup in Dallas, happening Dec 5th at UT Dallas. Fresh off the success of the F50 Physical AI Summits in Austin and Silicon Valley, this meetup brings the future of intelligent machines, robotics, and AI-driven manufacturing directly to Dallas–Fort Worth — one of America’s strongest industrial and technology powerhouses.
When: Sunday, December 14 | 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM CST
What: This free pilot event is a 4-hour AI-powered math and reading intensive for kids ages 8–14, held at Dave & Buster’s Domain Northside on Sunday, December 14. Students work on a personalized learning platform that adapts to their level and earn arcade time based on the effort and progress they make. Parents receive a detailed progress report, optional info session, and are asked to give honest feedback to help shape a future paid version of the program.
COMMUNITY STORIES
Nexus Data Centers is building a 600MW natural gas powered AI campus in Hubbard, Texas, and signing a Water Purchase Agreement with AirJoule to generate distilled water on site from waste heat. AirJoule’s atmospheric water tech will feed cooling and power processes starting with initial systems in Q2 2026.
Why it matters: This is a glimpse of how large scale AI infrastructure can grow in Texas without crushing local water systems, which is critical if the state wants to host more hyperscale AI campuses.
Need-to-know:
600MW AI data center campus under development in Hubbard, Texas
AirJoule uses waste heat and metal organic frameworks to generate distilled water on site
Early 2025 pilot in Hubbard validated real world performance and scalability for hyperscale use
Learn more here.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department rolled out an internal AI use policy in November that tightly governs how staff can use generative AI for work. It allows productivity use cases like drafting and summarizing, while blocking high risk uses and forcing all tools through an IT approval and oversight process.
Why it matters: This is one of the clearest examples of a Texas agency turning AI ethics talk into concrete rules, and it previews how other state departments are likely to regulate AI tools and vendors.
Need-to-know:
Policy bans AI for legal interpretations, HR decisions, and any misleading or deceptive content
No sensitive or personal data can go into AI tools without explicit authorization and IT signoff
Aligns with the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act taking effect January 1, 2026
Learn more here.
Texas lawmakers are defending the new Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act while federal leaders float plans to wipe out state AI laws through the National Defense Authorization Act and a potential executive order. The fight has split Republicans, with Texas officials and other governors resisting pressure from big tech aligned voices in Washington.
Why it matters: The outcome will decide whether Texas keeps its own guardrails on biometrics, social scoring, and misuse of AI or has to live under a single federal standard shaped in DC.
Need-to-know:
TRAIGA bans government social scoring, AI that incites self harm or violence, and requires consent before capturing biometric data
Some in Congress and the Trump administration want the NDAA to preempt all state AI laws in the name of avoiding a 50 state “patchwork”
A recent YouGov poll found adults oppose federal preemption of state AI laws by roughly 3 to 1
Learn more here.
That’s all for now, folks!
If you enjoyed this, consider sharing with a friend by sending them to sign up here.