Gov. Ron DeSantis is again pushing back against the idea that President Donald Trump’s “one rule” executive order protecting the artificial intelligence industry would restrict Florida from passing laws against the industry.
In a roundtable at Florida Atlantic University, DeSantis said he believes much of what he wants to do falls within the scope of what President Trump’s order allows. He also believes that if Attorney General Pam Bondi takes legal action against Florida for overreach, the state will win.
“The president issued an executive order and some people were saying, ‘No, this prevents states from doing that.’ That’s not the case,” DeSantis said.
“First of all, an executive order cannot block states. You can preempt states under Article I authority through Congressional legislation on certain issues, but you can’t do that with an executive order. But when you read it, they actually say that a lot of what we’re talking about is what we’re encouraging states to do. They say it doesn’t interfere with the safety of the child. So I think what we’re trying to do, even reading very broadly, is that we have a right to do this. ”
President Trump’s order issued Thursday requires Bondi to “ A.I. Litigation Special Committee (Task Force) whose sole responsibility is to challenge the state. A.I. “Any law inconsistent with the policies set forth in section 2 of this Order, including because such law unconstitutionally regulates interstate commerce, preempts existing federal regulations, or is unlawful in the judgment of the Attorney General.”
According to the EO, its goal is to establish “the least burdensome national standards, rather than 50 contradictory national standards, to maintain and strengthen America’s world-class standards.” A.I. Dominance. ”
But unlike “woke” states like Colorado and California, which want to pass their own laws, DeSantis said Florida will follow the president’s lead.
“I don’t foresee that happening, even for what we’re doing in Florida. But if it were to happen, I think we’re in a good position to win it. So I don’t think that’s going to be an impediment to us creating and making sure we have a Bill of Rights for the people,” he said, seemingly unconcerned about what he called a “dormant Commerce Clause.”
At Monday’s event, DeSantis reiterated concerns about data centers and foreign workers brought in to work there and power usage, deepfakes and people using false images and likenesses, Chinese technology, AI-enabled mental health treatments, and protecting consumer and parental rights, including data privacy protections.
“This basically prevents this technology from running out of control,” DeSantis said.
