HB 849

Present law establishes numerous rights and responsibilities that apply to persons, human beings, natural persons, and living beings. This bill specifies that, as used in Tennessee Code Annotated, the terms "person, ""life, and ""natural person"" generally do not include artificial intelligence, a computer algorithm, a software program, computer hardware, or any type of machine. This bill also defines the terms ""human being, ""life, and ""natural person, as such terms are generally used in Tennessee Code Annotated, as follows: (1) ""Human being"" means an individual living member of the species, homo sapiens, including the unborn human being during the entire embryonic and fetal stages from fertilization to full gestation; (2) ""Life"" means the condition that distinguishes animals from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death; and (3) ""Natural person"" means an individual living member of the species, homo sapiens. ON APRIL 6, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 837, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, clarify that a ""p erson, as used in Tennessee Code Annotated, does not include artificial intelligence, a computer algorithm, a software program, computer hardware, or any type of machine ."