Original Article By Newsmax Wires
As President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans push to accelerate artificial intelligence development nationwide, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is emerging as one of the GOP’s most prominent skeptics.
With one year left in his term, DeSantis has made regulating artificial intelligence a top priority, even as the technology spreads into everyday life, Politico reported Saturday.
“The idea of this transhumanist strain, that somehow this is going to supplant humans and this other stuff, we have to reject that with every fiber of our being,” DeSantis said Dec. 15 during an event in Jupiter, Florida.
“We as individual human beings are the ones that were endowed by God with certain inalienable rights,” he said.
DeSantis’ concerns about AI are not focused on cultural or “woke” issues. Instead, he has emphasized economic disruption, labor displacement, and the immense scale of infrastructure required to support AI systems.
He has repeatedly warned that deepfakes and digital manipulation could undermine public trust and self-government.
A focus of DeSantis’ pushback has been the rapid expansion of data centers — the massive facilities that power AI. The governor has sided with local communities opposing new projects, arguing they strain electric grids, consume large amounts of water, and provide limited benefits to residents.
“One hyperscale data center is like a city of half a million people pulling electricity off the grid,” DeSantis said. “People are rightly concerned about that.”
The governor’s stance places him at odds with Trump, who has embraced AI as an economic and national security imperative.
Trump has warned states against passing restrictive AI laws, arguing that excessive regulation could hurt U.S. competitiveness and slow innovation.
Despite this, DeSantis is pressing ahead with proposals aimed at consumer and family protections.
His recommendations include requiring companies to disclose when consumers are interacting with AI, banning AI-based mental health counseling, giving parents more control over their children’s AI use, and ending state subsidies for data centers.
He has also called for limits to prevent facilities from draining local water resources.
Florida lawmakers are set to debate AI legislation when the next session begins in January.
One bill already advancing would require a qualified human professional to make final decisions on insurance claim denials, even if AI tools are used in the process.
Industry advocates caution against slowing AI development, calling it a global technological wave that states cannot stop.
But DeSantis argues that Congress has failed to provide meaningful oversight of Big Tech, leaving states little choice but to act.
“Whether it’s a parent knowing that there’s going to be protections for children, I think a lot of people have a lot of concerns about some of the things that could be on the horizon,” DeSantis said Dec. 15.
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