TALLAHASSEE, Florida \u2014 Key policies sought by Gov. Ron DeSantis to regulate artificial intelligence and the data centers that fuel the booming technology appear to be on thin ice in the Florida Legislature.<\/p>\n
The Republican governor, who has emerged as a leading AI skeptic<\/a>, is pushing for legislation such as an AI \u201cbill of rights\u201d that, among other things, would require companies to make it clear whether consumers are communicating with a human, AI system or chatbot.<\/p>\n But the state House has yet to take up any of DeSantis\u2019 AI proposals halfway into the 2026 lawmaking session, putting the policies in serious jeopardy. The disconnect comes as Florida\u2019s GOP-dominated Legislature finds itself stuck between a governor hungry for his state to install AI guardrails and President Donald Trump, who wants federal top-down rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is really just exercising our core constitutional responsibilities to make sure that people in Florida are treated well, and that their rights and well-being are respected,\u201d DeSantis said during a Feb. 4 AI roundtable at New College of Florida. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll continue to fight that fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of session, DeSantis unveiled a list of recommendations for Florida lawmakers, such as the bill of rights that would also prohibit the use of therapy or mental health counseling through AI and give parents more controls over how their children use the technology. At the same time, DeSantis is adamant about restricting the growth of data centers by stopping any state subsidies to tech companies and curbing such facilities from drying up local water resources. The governor\u2019s data center proposal goes as far as calling for the state to perform sound reviews to guard against noise pollution.<\/p>\n These ideas are moving in the state Senate, where the bill of rights<\/a> has advanced through one of two committee assignments, while the data center regulations<\/a> have gone through two of three.<\/p>\n