DeSantis Breaks With Trump On AI: 'Fake Videos' Are Not 'Some Kind Of Utopia'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is sounding the alarm on the risks of artificial intelligence and the impact its growth will have on the state’s residents and economy.

The idea that AI “is going to supplant humans and this other stuff, we have to reject that with every fiber of our being,” DeSantis said at a Dec. 15 event in Jupiter, Florida, Politico reports.

“Let’s not try to act like some type of fake videos or fake songs are going to deliver us to some kind of utopia,” he added at another event three days later. DeSantis, a Republican, has also warned that the technology, specifically deepfakes that can easily manipulate the public, could pose “a potential existential crisis for self-government.”

The comments follow President Trump’s Dec. 12 executive order that calls on federal agencies to evaluate state-level AI laws and go after those that they deem “burdensome.”

A week earlier, DeSantis proposed a “Citizen Bill of Rights for Artificial Intelligence” for Florida. He still plans to pursue the legislation despite the EO, Fox Business reports.

“An executive order doesn’t/can’t preempt state legislative action,” DeSantis tweeted earlier this month. “Congress could, theoretically, preempt states through legislation. The problem is that Congress hasn’t proposed any coherent regulatory scheme but instead just wanted to block states from doing anything for 10 years, which would be an AI amnesty.”

Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill initially included a provision that would have put a 10-year moratorium on state-level AI regulation. It was removed by a 99-1 vote in July. Lawmakers tried again with the recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but axed that provision, too.

When it came up as part of the NDAA, DeSantis warned it would deny “the people the ability to channel these technologies in a productive way” and let “technology companies run wild.”

Other GOP lawmakers also spoke out against the moratorium, including Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

Recommended by Our Editors

DeSantis is also concerned about the rise in teen AI companions, as is California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed a bill to protect minors from them following a string of teen suicides this year, allegedly encouraged by chatbots. DeSantis has also voiced concerns that are more familiar territory for him, arguing that Big Tech “will steer AI in a woke direction.”

Data centers are another hotbed of debate. While Trump has slashed red tape on new data center developments, DeSantis has attempted to slow their growth in his state, siding with local communities, according to Politico. Other Republican lawmakers have faced similar pressure from constituents concerned about electricity prices, noise, water consumption, and more.

Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders has called for a moratorium on data center development “to give democracy a chance to catch up, and ensure that the benefits of technology work for all of us, not just the 1%.”