Florida Set to Weigh AI Guardrails Despite Trump's Opposition
Florida is signaling it will pursue AI regulation despite federal efforts to combat state legislation to rein in the nascent technology, the Shumaker law firm blogged Friday.
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“Florida is positioning itself to enact prescriptive consumer protections and sector-specific guardrails on AI,” wrote the firm’s Jade Davis, a privacy attorney in Florida. “Companies serving Florida consumers, operating AI-driven customer interfaces, or relying on AI in claims or other regulated functions should prepare for a compliance regime that emphasizes notice and consent, data minimization and security, human oversight, and procurement and siting constraints.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) earlier this month proposed state legislation that would create an “AI Bill of Rights” to protect consumers (see 2512040046). But on Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that aims to challenge state AI laws through a DOJ litigation task force and other methods (see 2512110069).
The executive order has drawn bipartisan backlash from the states, as well as industry applause (see 2512120042). On Monday, DeSantis pointed out that Trump can’t block state AI regulation through executive order (see 2512150050).
“Although there was consideration of federal action to impose a moratorium on state AI rules, the Governor has publicly asserted that an executive order would not preempt legislative action at the state level and that any comprehensive preemption would need to come from Congress,” Davis wrote. “Florida lawmakers are pursuing a multi-committee examination of AI's sectoral impacts, signaling continued legislative engagement even as federal policy remains unsettled.”
While a bill has yet to be introduced in the Florida legislature, the state House “has scheduled multiple committee hearings to assess AI across key domains, including utilities, workforce, education, health, criminal justice, emergency management, and professional regulation,” said Davis. “Points of likely focus include the breadth of NIL protections, the contours of parental access and monitoring, the definition and enforceability of ‘deidentified’ data restrictions, the extent of public-sector tool bans, and the standards for insurance model inspections.”
Companies deploying AI in Florida “should anticipate new transparency and consent obligations, particularly around chatbot disclosures and [name, image and likeness] use,” the lawyer said. “Organizations that process personal data for AI applications will need to reevaluate data governance, retention, and sharing practices to align with heightened prohibitions on the sale or sharing of personal identifying information and to ensure that inputs to AI systems are secured.”
Davis added, “With federal preemption uncertain and state-level momentum accelerating, Florida's proposal is an early indicator of the legislation direction that other states may follow; particularly in privacy, safety, and critical infrastructure governance.”