TALLAHASSEE --- After vetoing a bill about studying the effects of artificial intelligence on Florida workers, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state will develop a plan to prevent “tech overlords” from taking over.
While offering few details, DeSantis warned Monday of “very dangerous” impacts of rapidly changing AI.
“It's one thing to use technology to enhance the human experience, but it's another thing to have technology supplant the human experience,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Jacksonville.
He added that Florida will “develop a coherent approach to this.”
“We can't put our head in the sand and just say we're not going to deal with AI at all, because it is becoming a fact of life,” DeSantis said. “But, you know, we can't just turn the reins over to a bunch of tech overlords. That doesn't work. That ultimately isn't going to be what's best.”
DeSantis on June 30 vetoed a bill (HB 827) dealing with automation and artificial intelligence. The bill, which passed the Legislature in April with only one dissenting vote, would have directed part of the state Department of Commerce to study issues such as job losses and gains.
“Recognizing that AI trends are ever-evolving in delivery, skill development and in-demand career tracks, it makes no sense to wait for the report to be published by the state’s labor statistics bureau,” DeSantis wrote in a veto letter. “Indeed, such a report --- to the extent it has value --- would likely be obsolete by the time it was actually published.”
But Rep. Leonard Spencer, a Gotha Democrat who sponsored the bill, expressed disappointment in the veto.
“It was a proactive, data-driven approach --- designed not to regulate innovation, but to better understand how it is reshaping our economy, labor markets and communities,” Spencer said in a statement.
Last month, DeSantis criticized a congressional proposal that would have prevented states from regulating artificial intelligence. The U.S. Senate ultimately rejected the proposal.
But ALFA Institute, a tech accelerator chaired by former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the idea will “live to fight another day,” according to Route Fifty, a sister publication of The News Service of Florida.
“Congress continues to treat AI like something that can be safely bracketed into old models and frameworks. That instinct --- to sideline, defer, delay --- doesn’t just waste time. It opens the door for a fragmented, 50-state patchwork that undermines any semblance of a national strategy,” ALFA Institute said in a blog post.
‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’ FROM TARIFFS
Tariffs will increase the average Floridian’s weekly grocery bill by 10 percent to 15 percent, according to Florida TaxWatch.
The Tallahassee-based organization released a report Tuesday that looked at the effects of tariffs on housing, auto and food.
“While the tariffs aim to protect domestic industries and boost capital investment in the long-term, they pose significant risks to the broader economy in the short-term,” the report said. “The new tariffs will likely exert pressure on Florida’s economy as consumers face higher prices, small businesses encounter increased operational costs, unemployment rises and overall economic growth slows down.”
NO SIGNATURE NEEDED
DeSantis allowed three bills to become law without his signature just before the Fourth of July, essentially ending his part of the 2025 legislative session.
Legislators sent 262 bills to the governor from the session, which was scheduled to end May 2 but lasted until June 16. He signed 248 and vetoed 11.
Three became law without his signature: HB 677, which involved the state employees’ health insurance program and fertility-preservation services; HB 1219, which backed noncompete employment agreements in certain situations; and HB 6503, a bill that directed Sarasota County to compensate a woman injured in a traffic accident with a county truck.
DeSantis had not previously allowed bills to become law without his signature. The last time a governor took such an action was in 2012, when now-U.S. Sen. Rick Scott was governor.
DeSantis has signed varying numbers of bills since he took office in 2019. For example, he signed 189 of 194 bills passed during the 2019 regular session and 201 of 206 in 2020. The peak was in 2023 when the Legislature sent him 348 bills, of which he signed 341.