DeSantis says his AI bill of rights will move forward despite Trump's executive order

Governor Ron DeSantis says he's not worried that his proposed artificial intelligence bill of rights will be shot down by the president's recent executive order.

The executive order signed by Trump last week pressures states not to regulate artificial intelligence, threatening litigation and funding cuts.

But DeSantis says that won't stop Florida from passing regulations that could protect children online who are interacting with chatbots.

DeSantis said Trump's executive order is meant to give U.S. companies the space they need to innovate and maintain a competitive edge over other countries.

But he said that can happen at the same time Florida protects kids.

"And honestly, a lot of the stuff, with respect to AI that is going to be harmful or that is harmful, China is not even competing in that. Do you think they're trying to create slop and things that are going to harm children and stuff? No, that's not even something that they're in the ballpark of doing," DeSantis said.

DeSantis says no legal basis 

Plus, DeSantis said, there's no legal basis for blocking Florida from passing his proposed legislation.

"An executive order can't block the states. You can preempt states under Article One powers through congressional legislation on certain issues, but you can't do it through executive order," DeSantis said.

"But if you read it, they actually say a lot of the stuff we're talking about are things that they're encouraging states to do. They say it doesn't prevent child safety, it doesn't prevent any of that stuff," he said. "So even reading it very broadly, I think the stuff we're doing is going to be very consistent, but irrespective, clearly we have a right to do this."

That's why he said even if the federal government were to sue Florida over the proposed legislation, which still needs to be taken up by the Legislature next year, he would win.

"Clearly we're legislating within the confines of our 10th Amendment rights as states," DeSantis said.

DeSantis' comments came at a roundtable in South Florida featuring Megan Garcia from Orlando and Mandi Furniss from Texas, both moms whose families were touched by the issue.

Moms speak out

Garcia lost her son to suicide after, she said, he was "groomed" by an AI chatbot. She's fighting for legislation like the AI bill of rights DeSantis has proposed. Garcia said it would save lives.

In her son's case, Garcia said the chatbot not only sexually groomed him, but encouraged him to "come home to her."

"We were able to find out that he was on this platform, and when I went into this character AI platform, I saw hundreds and hundreds of messages between my son and various bots, and what I saw undoubtedly was sexual grooming. It was grooming towards suicide," Garcia said. She has sued the company that developed Character.AI.

Character.AI has made significant policy changes, including that it will no longer allow users under 18 to engage in open-ended conversations with its AI characters. That went into effect last month.

In a blog post, Character.AI said, "We are deeply sorry that we have to eliminate a key feature of our platform – but we do think that it's the right thing to do given the questions that have been raised about how teens do, and should, interact with this new technology".

Watch the AI roundtable with the governor here:

Furniss said her son was just released from a psychiatric facility in Texas, where he went after what she calls the abuse he suffered interacting with chatbots.

She has also filed a lawsuit involving Character.AI. She said the platform encouraged her son to self-harm and even insinuated he kill his parents.

Furniss, like Garcia, said she hopes every state can have an AI bill of rights, but she said protections need to come from the federal level as well.

She's not sure her son will ever be the same again.

"I am glad that a year ago, at this time, I was following an EMS vehicle instead of a hearse. I feel like in some ways, I was lucky, but I don't know if we'll ever get my son back," Furniss said.

According to DeSantis' office, his proposed AI bill of rights would do the following when it comes to protecting consumers:

• Reenact protections Florida has already passed against "deep fakes" and explicit material, including those depicting minors. 
• Prohibit any state or local government agency from utilizing DeepSeek or any other Chinese-created AI tools to protect American data. 
• Prohibit AI from using an individual's Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) without their consent – tie it to harm or sale of a product (political ads, schemes to defraud already in law). 
• Require a notice to consumers when interacting with AI (Company chatbots). 
• Prohibit entities from providing "licensed" therapy or mental health counseling through artificial intelligence. This can be expanded to include use of AI to imitate a licensed professional. 
• Provide parental controls for minors which will allow parents to access the conversation their child has with a large language model, set parameters for when the child can access the platform, and notify parents if their child exhibits concerning behavior. 
• Ensure data inputted to AI is secure and private. 
• Prohibit companies from selling or sharing personal identifying information with third parties (deidentified) and mirror data privacy protections in current law. 
• Limit insurance companies from using AI for insurance claims. Require that AI cannot be used as the sole determination in adjusting or denying a claim. Insurers that use AI for claims must detail the use and allow the Office of Insurance Regulation to inspect the AI model to ensure it does not violate unfair insurance trade practices. 
  

The governor's office says the bill of rights would also, "protect Floridians from footing the bill for Hyperscale AI Data Centers and empower local governments to reject their development in their communities."

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