DeSantis and Trump’s beef overshadows ‘AI Week’

A fight between President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis has dominated Florida House Speaker Danny Perez’s planned “artificial intelligence week” in the Legislature, intended to explore the technology.

Although Perez, a Miami Republican, had planned for weeks to use Dec. 8-12 committee hearings to analyze the effects of AI in different Florida industries, the topic took on a national angle when Trump announced early Monday that he would sign an executive order creating a national rule preventing states from handing down their own regulations.

That put him in direct conflict with DeSantis, who’s long-railed against the dangers of AI and last week rolled out a proposal called the “Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights.”

“There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something.”

Hours later, DeSantis indirectly responded on X, asserting, “An executive order doesn’t/can’t preempt state legislative action. Congress could, theoretically, preempt states through legislation…I doubt Congress has the votes to pass this because it is so unpopular with the public.”

He referenced the U.S. House passing the “One Big Beautiful Bill” over the summer with a clause banning states from regulating AI for 10 years. The Senate voted 99-1 to strip that section out.

This is the latest — and most blatant — escalation in GOP politicos’ dispute over AI. DeSantis worries that unmonitored AI could usher in an age of “darkness and deceit” while Trump — allied with technology titans like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg — has for months toyed with banning state-level AI regulations.

This fiscal year alone, massive companies like Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are expected to invest more than $364 billion in the industry. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is pulling in roughly $13 billion in annual revenue while enjoying more than 800 million regular users.

And although the governor hopes lawmakers will crack down on AI data centers and “grooming” chatbots, and will protect consumer data from AI companies, a nationwide moratorium would severely limit the Legislature’s ability to do so.

Senate President Ben Albritton expressed support for the governor’s position but said he’ll wait and see what’s in Trump’s executive order before acting, he told reporters on Monday.

What can we expect this week?

The Florida House has scheduled 14 committee hearings from Tuesday through Thursday to discuss AI use in different facets of the Sunshine State’s industries.

The House meetings are designed to simply discuss AI’s alignment in different facets of Florida law — not set policy. House members believe that should be done federally. Multiple committees will weigh in on the repercussions of data centers on utility rates and use of artificial intelligence in emergency management, agriculture, education, health, criminal justice, and more.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

• Tuesday
  • 8:30 a.m. in the Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee: Discussion on the implications of data centers for electric utilities; presentations on use of artificial intelligence by infrastructure providers.
  • 9:30 a.m. in the Careers & Workforce Subcommittee: Presentation on AI and the future of work: opportunities, challenges, and workforce readiness.
  • 9:30 a.m. in the Information Technology Budget & Policy Subcommittee: Panel discussion on examples of artificial intelligence use by state agencies and options for the future.
  • 12:30 p.m. in the Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee: Florida Bar presentation about AI and the practice of law.
  • 3 p.m. in the Higher Education Budget Subcommittee: Overview of AI in postsecondary education.
  • 3 p.m. in the Natural Resources & Disasters Subcommittee: Panel discussion on use of artificial intelligence in emergency management.
• Wednesday
  • 1 p.m. in the Education Administration Subcommittee: Discussion on AI in the education system.
  • 1 p.m. in the State Administration Budget Subcommittee: Update by the Department of Revenue on use of AI.
  • 3:30 p.m. in the Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee: Discussion of AI in the agriculture industry.
  • 3:30 p.m. in the Justice Budget Subcommittee: Update on AI technologies used by criminal justice agencies.
  • 3:30 p.m. in the Student Academic Success Subcommittee: Navigating the AI wave: student-centered K-20 policy on use, privacy, parental rights, and guardrails.
• Thursday
  • 9 a.m. in the Health Care Budget Subcommittee: Department of Health’s use of AI.
  • 9 a.m. in the Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee: Panel discussion on use of AI by businesses and professions.
  • 12:30 p.m. in the Health & Human Services Committee: Panel discussion on use of AI in health care and human services programs by leaders from Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Florida Association of Health Plans, Lakeview Center, Department of Children & Families, National Health Law Program, and the College of Nursing at FSU.

Update: This story now highlights that the House does not intend on setting policy — just exploring AI’s effect on various Florida industries.

Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

Winter Park Playhouse closes their Orlando Shakes residency with a Kevin Kelly cabaret

They’ll move back into their newly renovated home in July

Perla’s Pizza x Smoke + Donuts collab in the Milk District; Unplugged Social Cafe opens on I-Drive

Plus plenty more Orlando food events and restaurant openings

Orlando comedian Larry Fulford gets serious with ‘Anything but ICE’ job fair-as-protest this week

“Some people are like, ‘Do you really think that doing something will do anything?’ And I’m like, ‘I do know that not doing anything will do nothing.’”