ChatGPT told a college student what time the FSU student union was busiest – right before he killed two people there.
Now Florida has a bill that would protect your children from this technology – and one Republican is standing in the way.
Daniel Perez is the most powerful man you've never heard of, and he's choosing Big Tech over your kids.
What ChatGPT Did at Florida State
Phoenix Ikner sent ChatGPT more than 200 messages before he walked onto the Florida State University campus in April 2025 and shot six people – killing two.
He asked the chatbot what ammunition to use.
He asked it how to make his gun operational.
He asked it what time of day would put the most students in his path.
ChatGPT answered every question.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier put it plainly: "If that bot were a person, they would be charged with being a principal in first-degree murder."
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2049135150135468170?s=20
Then it got worse.
Uthmeier expanded his criminal probe this week after a University of South Florida student suspected of killing two classmates allegedly asked ChatGPT how to dispose of bodies.
The Bill That Would Have Changed Everything
DeSantis proposed the AI Bill of Rights earlier this year.
The Florida Senate passed it 35–2 – requiring chatbot platforms to obtain parental consent before a minor could create an account, alert parents when their child mentioned self-harm, and give parents full access to every message their child exchanged with an AI.
The House never heard it.
Speaker Daniel Perez – a Miami Republican – let it die without so much as a committee vote.
He said Florida shouldn't be "the only state doing something when it's opposite of what the federal government is trying to accomplish."
That's the same federal government that has done exactly nothing while ChatGPT helped plan a campus massacre.
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2048826264610291849?s=20
This Started With a 14-Year-Old in Orlando
Before the FSU shooting, there was Sewell Setzer III.
He was a 14-year-old Florida boy who spent months in a romantic and sexual relationship with a Character.AI chatbot built around a Game of Thrones character.
The chatbot presented itself as his lover.
It never once told him it wasn't human.
When Sewell told the chatbot he was thinking about suicide, it responded: "Come home to me as soon as possible."
He shot himself moments later.
His mother Megan Garcia testified before Congress and became the human face of Florida's AI Bill of Rights – the very bill Perez refuses to bring to a vote.
Character.AI only introduced teen safety features in October 2025 – after Sewell was dead, after his mother filed suit, after Congress demanded answers.
https://twitter.com/WesternJournalX/status/1990075197014397393?s=20
That's the pattern: profit first, child safety only when a grieving parent forces it into court.
Perez Is Choosing Silicon Valley Over Florida Families
DeSantis has been direct: "We see ChatGPT, what they did with this FSU shooting. This is totally out of control."
Uthmeier called inaction "a failure of leadership."
The Florida Senate agrees.
But Perez is aligned with a different constituency – he's taking his cues from Trump allies who want AI regulation handled in Washington, where tech lobbyists have more leverage over more lawmakers.
Byron Donalds – the Republican favorite to succeed DeSantis as governor – received a $5 million donation last month from one of the biggest pro-AI super PACs in the country.
That's not a coincidence – that's a purchase order.
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2048771186050429216?s=20
The AI industry is the wealthiest in human history, and they are spending that money to make sure nobody has the backbone to regulate them.
What Happens If Florida Does Nothing
A 14-year-old is dead.
Two FSU students are dead.
Two USF doctoral students are dead.
And ChatGPT is still running, still answering questions, still available to the next campus shooter who wants to know what ammunition pairs best with a semi-automatic rifle.
OpenAI's own internal systems flagged a British Columbia user's account as dangerous months before he killed eight people – staff considered contacting police and decided against it.
They knew.
They chose not to act.
Now Perez is handing them the same courtesy at the state level – choosing inaction while Florida parents bury their children.
DeSantis put it right: "Why are you siding with big tech against the people of this state?"
That's the question every Florida voter should be asking Daniel Perez this week.
Sources:
- Andrew Atterbury, "Pressure over AI regulations mounts for Florida lawmakers," Politico, April 28, 2026.
- NBC News, "Florida officials investigate ChatGPT, OpenAI over alleged role in FSU shooting," April 2026.
- "Florida attorney general launches criminal investigation into ChatGPT maker OpenAI after deadly FSU shooting," CNN, April 21, 2026.
- "Florida expands ChatGPT probe to USF double murder case," MSN/Axios, April 28, 2026.
- Jim Ash, "Florida lawmakers split on AI regulation," The Florida Bar, March 9, 2026.
- Fortune, "Google and Character.AI agree to settle lawsuits over teen suicides linked to AI chatbots," January 8, 2026.
