Dear Chairman Flores and committee members, My name is Zach Whiting, and I am a policy director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of SB 20. Below is an excerpt from our comprehensive research paper speaking specifically to the threats posed by AI in creating sexually explicit deepfakes of children.
Family
You Should Break Up with Your AI Boyfriend
You should break up with your boyfriend. Not your real, human boyfriend—your AI boyfriend. Recent media coverage and cultural moments have brought renewed attention to how people are forming relationships with artificial intelligence, and how we ought to think about these rapidly developing technologies. A recent Prime Video series, “Scarpetta,” offers a striking fictional example....
March 24, 2026