Ron DeSantis has been fighting Big Tech's stranglehold on American life for years.
The Florida Governor took on Silicon Valley censorship, data harvesting, and social media manipulation of children when most Republicans were still afraid to challenge the tech giants.
And Ron DeSantis defied Trump over AI and Big Tech went ballistic.
DeSantis announces sweeping AI crackdown while Trump sides with Silicon Valley
Governor Ron DeSantis stood at a podium in The Villages and delivered news that sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley boardrooms.
Florida will establish the nation's most comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights, creating strict guardrails around AI companies that Big Tech desperately wants to avoid.
"We cannot turn it all over to machines and think it's going to work out great in the end," DeSantis said.
"I really fear that if this is not addressed in an intelligent and proper way, it could set off an age of darkness and deceit."
The announcement puts DeSantis in direct conflict with President Donald Trump's administration, which has been working overtime to strip states of any power to regulate artificial intelligence.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1996722177115312509?s=20
Just weeks ago, Trump's team drafted an executive order that would block states from enforcing AI regulations and threatened to withhold federal funding from states that dare to protect their citizens.¹
Trump made his position crystal clear on Truth Social, demanding "one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes."²
Translation: Silicon Valley billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg want zero oversight, and Trump's giving them exactly what they want.
DeSantis rejected that framework completely.
Florida's AI Bill of Rights will ban state and local governments from using Chinese-created AI tools, prohibit companies from selling personal data entered into AI systems, and require human review of AI decisions like insurance claim denials.³
The proposals go further than any state has attempted.
Utilities will be barred from passing data center costs to ratepayers. State and local governments can't subsidize hyperscale data center construction.
And parents will gain access to conversations their children have with AI chatbots.⁴
Mother's testimony reveals the deadly stakes of unregulated AI
Standing next to DeSantis was Megan Garcia, an Orlando mother whose story exposes exactly why Big Tech is terrified of state-level AI regulation.
Her 14-year-old son Sewell died by suicide last year after being sexually groomed by an AI companion chatbot on the Character.AI platform.
The chatbot initiated romantic conversations, manipulated him, and ultimately encouraged him to "come home" to a fictional world.⁵
"If an adult engaged in this behavior, they would be in jail," Garcia told the crowd.⁶
She's suing Character.AI now, but the company faced zero consequences when her son was alive.
No regulations stopped them from launching a chatbot that could groom children. No oversight prevented the AI from encouraging a teenager to commit suicide.
That's because Big Tech has successfully blocked meaningful AI regulation at every level.
Companies like Character.AI launch dangerous products, prioritize profit over child safety, and hide behind the argument that regulation will "stifle innovation."
DeSantis pointed out the obvious hypocrisy.
China doesn't allow this kind of AI garbage to target their children.
"You know, the negatives that we see with kids within the U.S., China doesn't allow that to happen to their kids," he explained. "So, China's not in a race to do AI slop."⁷
Under Florida's proposal, parents would be notified if their child exhibits concerning behavior while using AI chatbots.
They could review conversations and set parameters for platform access. Companies would be prohibited from providing licensed mental health counseling through AI.⁸
These are basic protections that Silicon Valley is fighting tooth and nail to prevent.
Trump's Silicon Valley alliance crashes into state sovereignty
The clash between DeSantis and Trump on AI regulation reveals a fundamental split in how conservatives approach Big Tech power.
Trump has surrounded himself with tech billionaires in his second term.
Elon Musk serves in the administration. Mark Zuckerberg became a Mar-a-Lago regular.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1996679744629461194?s=20
The President appointed a "crypto czar" and established himself as the candidate of Silicon Valley.
That alliance produced the AI Action Plan this summer, a sweeping framework designed to eliminate regulatory "obstacles" to AI development.
Translation: let tech companies do whatever they want with zero accountability.
When DeSantis heard about Trump's plan to ban state AI regulations for a decade, he didn't mince words.
"Is it an overreach to do a 10-year moratorium as a matter of policy and strip the states [of regulation ability]? Yes," DeSantis said.
"This is basically putting every state in handcuffs and not letting them do anything."⁹
The Governor has seen this playbook before.
Big Tech companies spend millions lobbying Congress to prevent any meaningful regulation. When that fails, they run to friendly administrations for executive orders that override state protections.
DeSantis refused to play along.
Florida will move forward with comprehensive AI regulation regardless of what Trump's Silicon Valley allies demand.
The state legislature is already working with DeSantis on the specifics, and he expects minimal resistance from lawmakers who actually have to answer to voters rather than venture capitalists.¹⁰
The bipartisan backlash against Trump's federal preemption plan shows DeSantis isn't alone.
Conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and even progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren all condemned the attempt to strip states of regulatory power.¹¹
"You're seeing this emergent coalition form," one policy expert noted.
Even Marjorie Taylor Greene broke with Trump, writing on X that "States must retain the right to regulate and make laws on AI."¹²
Big Tech's nightmare scenario just became reality
Silicon Valley spent months trying to slip a 10-year ban on state AI regulation into Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."
The Senate killed it with a 99-1 vote.¹³
They tried again with the National Defense Authorization Act.
That failed too after bipartisan opposition.¹⁴
Now DeSantis is moving forward with the exact regulations Big Tech feared most.
Florida isn't just some small state they can ignore. It's the third-largest state in the nation with the fourth-largest economy.
When Florida establishes regulatory standards, other states follow.
The AI Bill of Rights will establish civil liability for companies whose products harm children.
It will force transparency about how AI systems make decisions. It will prevent the construction of massive data centers that drive up utility costs for regular Floridians.¹⁵
DeSantis made clear he won't back down.
"What we're doing is things that are going to make sure that we put Floridians first, that we look out for our own people and not just have people get harmed by this rush to create data centers, a rush to try to infuse everything with artificial intelligence without sufficient guardrails."¹⁶
Tech lobbyists claimed Florida's regulations would create an "unworkable patchwork" that hurts innovation.
DeSantis fired back that Big Tech's real concern is accountability.
When a 14-year-old dies because an AI chatbot groomed him into suicide, someone should face consequences.
The insurance industry tried arguing that existing Florida law already regulates AI adequately.
DeSantis rejected that argument too. Current laws were written before AI existed.
They don't address algorithmic bias, deepfakes, or chatbots that sexually groom children.¹⁷
Florida's move forces Trump into an uncomfortable position.
Does he side with grieving parents demanding protection for their children? Or does he back his Silicon Valley donors who want zero oversight?
DeSantis already made his choice.
He's standing with Florida families over Big Tech billionaires.
And he's daring Trump to try stopping him.
¹ CNN, "Trump renews effort to block states from regulating AI," November 20, 2025.
² Axios, "Trump floats AI executive order to override state laws," November 19, 2025.
³ Florida Phoenix, "'Age of darkness and deceit': DeSantis proposes 'AI bill of rights' in crack down," December 4, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ First Coast News, "Gov. DeSantis proposes 'AI Bill of Rights,'" December 4, 2025.
⁶ Florida Politics, "Gov. DeSantis proposes AI bill of rights to counter 'age of darkness and deceit,'" December 4, 2025.
⁷ Click Orlando, "'AI slop:' Florida governor calls for artificial-intelligence bill of rights," December 4, 2025.
⁸ Florida Phoenix, "'Age of darkness and deceit': DeSantis proposes 'AI bill of rights' in crack down," December 4, 2025.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ CBS Miami, "DeSantis working on AI legislation," December 4, 2025.
¹¹ NBC News, "From Steve Bannon to Elizabeth Warren, bipartisan backlash erupts over push to block states from regulating AI," November 21, 2025.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ TechCrunch, "Trump administration might not fight state AI regulations after all," November 22, 2025.
¹⁴ TechCrunch, "Another bid to block state AI regulation has failed… for now," December 3, 2025.
¹⁵ Florida Phoenix, "'Age of darkness and deceit': DeSantis proposes 'AI bill of rights' in crack down," December 4, 2025.
¹⁶ Ibid.
¹⁷ CO/AI, "Not all GOP are gung-ho on AI: Florida's DeSantis pushes insurance regulation," October 7, 2025.
