Basically the government is no longer arguing that Texas intended to discriminate in enacting its laws. Instead, it's arguing that the laws weren't intended to discriminate but nevertheless had the effect of discriminating. This matters because while the court can impose remedies if it finds that the laws had a discriminatory effect, if it found that the discrimination was intentional, it could take more drastic measures like putting Texas back under pre clearance.
The intent claim is still alive because their are private plaintiffs in the case too, but the DOJ bowing out on that claim is undoubtedly a blow to it. In fact, there's good arguments that it would be better for the challengers of the law if the DOJ had dropped out of the case altogether rather than taking the position that it did yesterday.