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ARTICLE · 02 APRIL 2024

Tennessee Moves First On AI Protections With ELVIS Act

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On 21 March 2024, Tennessee became the first state in the United States to prohibit unauthorized use of artificial intelligence (AI) to replicate...

United StatesTechnology
Jason W. Callen
Jason W. Callen
Christopher J. Valente
Christopher J. Valente

On 21 March 2024, Tennessee became the first state in the United States to prohibit unauthorized use of artificial intelligence (AI) to replicate an individual's likeness, image, and voice when its governor signed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security Act of 2024 (ELVIS Act). The protections in the ELVIS Act for a person's voice from AI misuse is particularly notable. Tennessee, like other states, already had prohibitions on unauthorized use of an individual's likeness and image. And while some other states, such as California, have also protected a person's voice, none had expressly linked all three—likeness, image, and voice—to AI.

As reflected by its name, the ELVIS Act had strong support from Tennessee's music industry, which provides more than 60,000 jobs across the state. Singers and songwriters have seen the benefits of AI, with The Beatles using it to complete and publish their final song last fall, as well as its downsides, with an anonymous

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