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 AITX Community Monthly Meetup | sign up here!
Houston AITX Community Monthly Meetup | 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.
In this week’s edition you’re getting:
5 Upcoming Events
3 AI Community Stories
So let’s jump in!
UPCOMING EVENTS
When: Thursday, January 29 | 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM CST
Where: Antler VC Austin, Texas
What: This is the first installment of a workshop series for people who want to make money by practically applying AI to real-world business problems in valuable industries.
When: Monday, January 19 | 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM CST
What: 58% of Texas students are not at grade level in math.
That's not a typo. According to the latest STAAR data, more than half of Texas kids are behind - and most parents have no idea.
Why? Because "passing" a class doesn't mean "on grade level." Schools don't always tell you the difference.
Assessment Day answers one question: Is your child actually on track?
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: Saturday, January 24 | 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM CST
What: Launched in 2011, and quite possibly the longest running big data conference in the world, Data Day Texas returns in January with an international list of marquee presenters.
💻 Hack AI
When: Thursday January 8 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CST
What: A monthly session for builders all over the Austin area to learn about and build the latest AI technology.
COMMUNITY STORIES
A new set of Texas laws took effect Jan. 1, 2026, covering immigration enforcement in county jails, property tax relief for small businesses, faster evictions for squatters, and new rules for how state agencies and contractors use AI.
Why it matters: Texas is moving from “AI adoption” to “AI governance,” which changes how startups and vendors sell into government and how risk is managed for automated decisions.
Need-to-know:
SB 8 expands 287(g) cooperation with ICE across most counties that operate jails
HB 9 exempts up to $125,000 of business personal property, including inventory, from property taxes
HB 149 creates standards for transparency, bias reduction, and accountability when AI is used in government workflows
Learn more here.
As of January 1, 2026, California’s SB 53 (Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act) and Texas’s HB 149 (Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act) are both effective, forcing AI developers and product teams to comply with two very different regulatory playbooks.
Why it matters: If you build or sell AI in Texas, “ship it nationwide” now implies California-grade safety disclosures for frontier models plus Texas rules around responsible use, disclosures, and enforcement. That creates demand for compliance tooling, tighter vendor reviews, and slower enterprise rollouts.
Need-to-know:
California SB 53 targets “frontier” models and requires standardized safety and transparency disclosures, with penalties that can reach up to $1M per violation
Texas HB 149 establishes statewide rules around AI use, civil penalties, and an AI advisory council plus a regulatory sandbox concept
This sets up a patchwork problem: companies may need dual compliance until courts or Congress settle preemption and interstate scope questions
Learn more here.
Goldman is backing 5 gigawatts of private power for a south Dallas AI data center cluster
Goldman Sachs and Newmark are co-leading financing for GridFree AI’s “South Dallas One” concept: grid-independent, modular natural gas power campuses paired with data center sites south of Dallas, with plans that scale toward nearly 5 GW across three locations
Why it matters: This is the next phase of the Texas AI buildout: instead of waiting years in interconnection queues, developers are trying to bring dedicated power online fast, which could reshape where and how compute gets built in-state.
Need-to-know:
The “South Dallas Cluster” targets nearly 5 GW total, with each site designed for more than 1.5 GW of power plus data center structures
Initial financing aims for hundreds of millions, with power targeted in under 24 months from lease signing via 100 MW modular gas generation
The pitch is grid-independent reliability now, with a longer-term goal to connect to the Texas grid and potentially export spare power
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.