White House ‘AI and crypto czar’ David Sacks discusses President Donald Trump’s executive order on the national artificial intelligence standard on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said Monday that state officials have the right to regulate artificial intelligence, despite President Trump’s recent executive order that aims to require a national AI standard that the president said would override state laws.
DeSantis said during a speech at Florida Atlantic University that Trump’s order does not prevent states from passing their own AI regulations.
“The president issued an executive order. Some people said no, this is blocking the states,” the governor said. “That’s not true.”
“You should read it and see it. First of all, an executive order cannot block states,” he continued. “You can undermine states’ Article 1 powers through congressional legislation on certain issues, but you cannot do this through an executive order.”
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said state officials have the right to regulate artificial intelligence, despite President Trump’s recent executive order. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
While the governor said Trump’s order does not block state rules, he said Florida’s proposed rules are similar to what the White House is pursuing at the federal level.
“If you read it, they’re actually saying that a lot of the things we’re talking about are things they’re encouraging states to do,” DeSantis said. “So even if I read it very broadly, I think the things we do will be very consistent. But either way, we clearly have the right to do this.”
Last week, DeSantis released a proposed “Citizen Bill of Rights for Artificial Intelligence,” which aims to protect consumers from the potential risks and harms of AI.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a national AI standard. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters)
The proposal includes several guardrails, including blocking AI from using a person’s name, image or likeness without their consent, protections against deepfakes, and numerous restrictions aimed at protecting children.
DeSantis also addressed concerns from proponents of Trump’s order who worry about AI regulations that could be passed by Democratic-led states and the suggestion that the Justice Department could bring legal challenges in an effort to block state laws under the Dormant Commerce Clause, which prohibits states from passing laws that discriminate against interstate commerce.
“I don’t know how successful that would be, but the reality is I don’t expect that to even happen contrary to the things we’re doing in Florida, but if it does happen, I think we’re well positioned to have the upper hand on that,” DeSantis said.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis said President Donald Trump’s order does not prevent states from passing their own AI regulations. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have tried twice in the past six months to pass proposals to block state AI regulations through Trump’s summer spending bill and last month’s National Defense Authorization Act. But both attempts failed because lawmakers could not reach an agreement.
Trump has argued that it would be difficult for AI companies to seek approval from all fifty states, a claim also made by AI companies.
“There must be only one Rulebook if we want to stay at the forefront of AI,” the president wrote on social media last week before signing the order. “We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won’t last long if we have fifty states, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS.”
