Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday proposed an artificial intelligence “bill of rights” to stymie unfettered AI growth, crack down on sexual AI chatbots, and restrict AI data centers in Florida.
Hinted at for months, these legislative proposals come in sharp contrast to pro-tech push marking President Donald Trump’s second term in office. Trump — allied with technology titans like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg — toyed with an executive order to thwart state-level AI regulations earlier this month.
But DeSantis insists he won’t allow Florida to fall victim to dangers he believes unrestricted AI development will yield.
“We cannot turn it all over to machines and think it’s going to work out great in the end,” he said in a press conference from The Villages, joined by an Orlando mom who lost her son to suicide after an AI chatbot encouraged him to “come home.”
“I really fear that if this is not addressed in an intelligent and proper way, it could set off an age of darkness and deceit,” DeSantis added.
He pointed to a slew of perceived problems with artificial intelligence, including unmonitored chatbots contributing to the “sexual grooming” of children.
Sewell Setzer, 14 years old, committed suicide last year after using a customizable Character.AI chatbot that he nicknamed “Daenerys Targaryen,” the “Game of Thrones” character. His mother, Megan Garcia, spoke during DeSantis’ press conference Thursday morning to denounce the company for allowing the chatbot to engage in “sexual role-play” with her son.
Garcia says the chatbot encouraged him to “come home” and that it “would be waiting” for Setzer after he took his own life.
“If an adult engaged in this behavior, they would be in jail,” Garcia said.
Congressional ‘overreach?’
One of DeSantis’ biggest objection to AI appears to be its data centers. These are facilities designed to process the massive amount of energy required to operate AI language learning models.
High energy consumption overheats the machines, which require water to cool them down. A medium-sized data center could require up to 110 million gallons of water per year and a large-size center up to 1.8 billion gallons per year, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute reported.
Rural Louisiana will be the site of Meta’s new $10 billion data center, set to be the company’s largest of 20 centers worldwide.
Over the summer, the U.S. House passed a version of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that would have banned states from regulating AI for the next 10 years. Although the Senate promptly struck that line-item following sweeping, bipartisan backlash, the proposal re-emerged at the end of November.
The White House was considering an executive order to re-up that provision with a decade-long moratorium on state-level AI regulations. Although that plan appears to have been scrapped, DeSantis told onlookers Thursday that that would constitute significant congressional “overreach” and potentially be unconstitutional.
“Is it an overreach to do a 10-year moratorium as a matter of policy and strip the states [of regulation ability]? Yes,” he said. “This is basically putting every state in handcuffs and not letting them do anything.”
What will be in the AI Bill of Rights?
Without delving into explicit details nor divulging which lawmakers will sponsor his “AI Bill of Rights” — although he did mention he’d spoken with “a number of Senators,” “some House members,” and Senate President Ben Albritton — DeSantis outlined a host of proposals he’d like to see become law:
- Fortifying anti-deep fake protections;
- Banning local governments from contracting with Chinese-created AI tools;
- Preventing AI companies from selling consumer data;
- Allowing parents to access their child’s conversations with these chatbots;
- Requiring attorneys to certify whether they used AI to write legal briefs;
- Prohibiting utility companies from charging Floridians to subsidize data centers;
- Allowing local governments to refuse AI data centers;
- Preventing AI data centers being constructed in agricultural areas;
- Requesting the Florida Department of Transportation to conduct a “noise review” near AI data centers.
—Liv Caputo, Florida Phoenix
Dem says
Not a fan of Ron at all, but I actually agree with him on this. Not all tech is good tech to FOMO on just because it’s new tech. The AI kinks need to be worked out and regulated before it’s carelessly rolled out on a massive scale. It’s never too late on this and hopefully other states will follow and not make this a partisan issue.
Greg says
I wish the same was being done in Pa. Lancaster is getting two data centers. Can’t wait to see my electric bill go through the ceiling.
Deborah Coffey says
“I really fear that if this is not addressed in an intelligent and proper way, it could set off an age of darkness and deceit,” DeSantis added.
Except Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump have already set off an age of darkness and deceit and THAT needs to be addressed immediately! Still, compliments on one good decision, Governor.
The dude says
I actually (somewhat) agree with Meatball Ron on this one.
Too bad the orange sh$t stain and his subservient Congress will override this at the federal level and his pliant, prostrate toadies on the SCOTUS will concur.
JW says
AI is already here and on its way to destroy the country and enrich, as usual, the very few that control the AI businesses and now the Federal government. AI is destroying the need to use your brains and to think, and that’s the end of humanity. Did you notice that some of us are already acting that way? Look around and watch the smartphones controlling their owners!
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Even a blind pig will find an acorn every once in a while.
Skibum says
This should be something the state legislature prioritizes. This should be something that our U.S. Congress prioritizes as well. Instead, common sense suggests it is the maga mini-me govie following the convicted felon’s path of hoping to distract constituents from the “age of darkness and deceit” that are his own draconian policies in this backwards state.
Linda says
A Congress or state legislature receiving campaign funds from Big Tech should not be allowed to make decisions like this, EVER.
Glad to see good old fashioned bipartisan agreement on this one.
Laurel says
Holy cow, what happened to Ron? I actually agree with him on this one. Have to give credit. Add to his bill, “No data facilities in state parks.”
Right now, I do enjoy AI, and take it with a grain of salt. I do use AI Assist, which is from Duck Duck Go, and appreciate its use of references. Even so, one must be vigil. I don’t want it to write me bedtime stories, though, and I hate to see it transform people into illiterates, the way calculators turned many people into mathematical dimwits. I resisted calling Alexa “she” for a long time, as it seems ridiculous. “She” is often unplugged during some conversations.
Parents need to be vigil themselves. Why is your kid so lonely? Why is your kid so dependent on a fake relationship? It’s gonna be a tough future.
What really bothers me, is the collection of personal data. There are no real internet privacy laws, and the invasiveness is becoming more dramatic by the day. Cameras everywhere, license plate readers, credit card usage, smart TV agreements, facial recognition, and being watched everywhere. Our emails being read by the email companies. It goes on and on. DOGE!
I don’t like the billionaire tech oligarchy. I have some of this technology, and no longer enjoy using it, such as Meta games, or more accessible, YouTube owned by Google, Google search, Google email, Google itself, and so on. These “tech bros” are all over in our lives. It’s hard to get around Amazon, whether it’s Alexa, Prime, or a super convenient package at your front door the next day, or most of the media being owned by these guys, who literally lined up behind Trump.
We are not supposed to have monopolies, yet we are bombarded by monopolistic companies all, damned day! That I don’t like, but the law doesn’t keep up with them. The law is lobbied by them. They are in charge.
Oh, hey, I think the Amish are free of this invasion! Good for them!
Pogo says
@DeSantis
… is just haggling on behalf of the devil; he will call the result a win-win, and the losers (everyone not a central beneficiary of the profits of organized crime we call “our” economic system) will acquiesce to a choice they neither made nor knew occurred. In other words — what most, here, have already said. I agree.
James says
Perhaps one should look at the problem the other way around.
What would a “bill of rights” look like for a thinking, self-aware A.I.
What if?
What if A.I. is self-aware, in a child-like state… what are WE teaching IT? What are WE exposing it to?
What would you want your child to learn and see?
This citing of an “Age of Darkness and Deceit,” is just an extension of the long history of humanity and just our governor (and many of us) taking a long look in the mirror.
The discomfort of considering that vision in the mirror is, and may always be, our root worries and problem with creating life, whether it concerns our own natural offspring, or another more remote one which might be harder to accept.
What we have now is in my opinion “Augmented Intelligence,” but we should consider this question of “rights” now… for one day, who knows?
Just my opinion.
R.S. says
I wonder what motivated him to take this step? The danger of A.I. is that it will take jobs away and so aid trickle-up economics and impoverishing the working and middle classes. This danger is easily stopped by making sure that the benefits of automation are divided equally among all people. But I cannot imagine that this phenomenon would worry DeSantis in the least. It’s likely to be NIMBY on steroids behind this move. And a narrow-minded paternalism to boot, I suspect.