Gov. DeSantis wants state action on ‘very dangerous’ AI

Gov. Ron DeSantis is spotlighting the “very dangerous” specter of artificial intelligence, vowing that Florida will develop a “coherent approach” in dealing with the emergent technology.

In discussing debate programs in Jacksonville, DeSantis said it was important to “prevent AI from taking over everything.”

“It’s one thing to use technology to enhance the human experience, but it’s another thing to have technology supplant the human experience and we’re going to be working in Florida to develop a coherent approach to this. It’s rapidly changing,” DeSantis said.

The Governor added that the state “can’t put our head in the sand and just say, ‘we’re not going to deal with AI at all,’ because it is becoming a fact of life. But we can’t just turn the reins over to a bunch of tech overlords. That doesn’t work. That ultimately isn’t going to be what’s best. So, you know, you have different things with respect to that, that we’re going to really have to start to do.”

Ironically, DeSantis just vetoed legislation that would have required a report on how AI and automation are affecting the Florida workforce, on the grounds that “such a report, to the extent it has value, would likely be obsolete by the time it was published” later this year.

Congress also debated inserting provisions in the “Big Beautiful Bill” barring state regulation of AI for several years. The Senate, however, removed that language from its version, which eventually passed the House.