Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's Senate campaign has released a new AI-generated attack ad putting a fabricated version of Democratic rival James Talarico's own face and voice behind fake scripture — and Talarico says his opponent is "lying to the people of Texas" to do it. The ad, titled "King James," shows an AI-generated Talarico writing with a crayon in what it calls "The King James Talarico Bible" and reciting an invented monologue built around real quotes taken out of context, accusing the state representative of "weaponizing" his Christian faith for politics.

The spot leans on comments Talarico has genuinely made over the years — that he is a "Christian who hates Christianity," that he once called Jesus a "radical feminist," and a 2021 remark that "God is nonbinary," made while he argued against legislation restricting transgender students from school sports. But the AI-narrated "sermon" stitches those lines into a monologue Talarico never actually delivered. A brief on-screen disclaimer acknowledges that "certain video content depicted in this advertising was generated by artificial intelligence." In a Wednesday interview with CBS News, Talarico called the ad "completely consistent with a liar like Ken Paxton" and said "they are using AI in order to mislead the people of this state." Pressed on whether the ad's words were his own, he conceded, "Not all of those statements."

Paxton is standing behind the spot. "I've never seen someone so willing to weaponize faith to sell a radical agenda. Talarico even brags about hating Christianity," the attorney general said in a statement accompanying the ad's release, adding that Talarico's positions are "an insult to millions of faithful Texans." A senior Paxton adviser, Nick Maddux, went further, accusing Talarico of running a "desperate attempt to hide his own far-left record."

"THEY ARE USING AI IN ORDER TO MISLEAD THE PEOPLE OF THIS STATE." — JAMES TALARICO, ON THE "KING JAMES TALARICO" AD

A legal gray zone, and a race that's turned into a toss-up

The "King James" spot is at least the fourth AI-generated attack ad targeting Talarico this year, following a Sound of Music-style singing parody, an AI clip depicting him as a raving street preacher, and a deepfake reading his own social media posts aloud. Texas law bans political deepfakes only in the 30 days before an election — a window these ads have sailed well outside of, since Election Day isn't until November. Talarico's campaign has pledged to run only human-made ads by contrast.

The stakes are unusually high for a state that hasn't sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988. Paxton, who survived impeachment on bribery and obstruction charges before winning the GOP primary runoff over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, has seen the race rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report since his nomination — a shift that has drawn roughly $10 million in outside spending from a pro-Trump PAC to boost his campaign. Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative, has led narrowly in several independent polls over the summer.

The fight is also becoming a test case for how unchecked AI-generated political content can spread before disclosure laws catch up. Researchers who track deepfakes in the race have warned that by the time Texas's 30-day pre-election restriction kicks in, the ads will already have shaped how millions of voters see the candidates. With the general election still eight weeks away, neither campaign is showing signs of slowing down — Paxton's team has signaled more AI-assisted spots are coming, while Talarico is leaning on the controversy itself, using the "lying" and "words in my mouth" clash to draw national attention and fundraising to a race both parties now see as winnable.