Florida voters wanted AI legislation, but it failed
Florida voters wanted AI legislation, but it failed
Publish Date: 2026-03-28 07:02:00
Source Domain: www.sun-sentinel.com
An overwhelming majority of voters want Florida to impose restrictions on artificial intelligence, concerned about its rapid expansion and unanswered questions about the potential risks to society, especially children.
Though polling showed almost nine out of 10 favored a proposed law, it failed — thanks to a web of personalities, policy, politics and power.
The result is a setback for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who couldn’t persuade the Florida Legislature to pass his AI agenda even though he spent months laying out his case and pushing for action.
“Things are happening very quickly, and the earth is moving underneath the feet of the American people without there really being any type of framework or safeguards or even a debate about whether this is actually going to be good for people,” DeSantis said at an event he convened at the state Capitol earlier this month to focus attention on the issue.
DeSantis said there are implications for jobs, for children, and for all of society. “There’s all these different questions that I think some people just want to put their head in the sand and act like just let big tech do what they want and everything’s going to be good.
“While we welcome technology that can enhance our experience as human beings, we should not be trying to generate technology that will supplant us as human beings,” the governor said. “You can’t have applications that are not controllable by human beings.”
Desantis was joined at that roundtable, as well as at other forums he’s held on the issue by people who described tragic consequences of artificial intelligence, including parents of children whose interactions with AI chatbots encouraged violence or suicide.
State government needs to step in to protect its residents, DeSantis repeatedly argued.
AI industry interests disagree and, especially significant, so does President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration wants the federal government, not the state, to deal with…
