Florida Takes an Unlikely Lead in the State Push to Regulate AI and Big Tech
Through litigation, child-protection rules and proposed safeguards, Florida has emerged as one of the most aggressive state regulators of artificial intelligence and major technology platforms.
Tallahassee — Florida is emerging as an aggressive regulator of artificial intelligence and major technology platforms, using litigation, child-protection requirements and proposed safeguards to challenge the federal government's preference for lighter oversight. Governor Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier have cast technology oversight as a defense of children, consumer privacy and human agency, setting up a widening state-federal divide over who writes the rules for the digital economy.
The state's most consequential fight is with OpenAI. Florida opened a criminal investigation in April after reviewing communications between ChatGPT and the suspected gunman in the fatal 2025 shooting at Florida State University. In June, Florida filed what has been described as the first state civil lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, alleging the company knowingly released an unsafe product that facilitates self-harm and violence. In September, Uthmeier sought a temporary injunction that would bar OpenAI from developing new models without stringent safety safeguards.
Social media companies have drawn the same attention. A 2024 Florida law prohibits social media accounts for children younger than 14 and requires parental consent for certain older minors, and Florida joined New Mexico in rejecting a proposed $18 billion Meta child-safety settlement. Uthmeier has also proposed additional age-determination and parental-consent requirements when minors download applications.
The push has limits inside Florida's own government: House Speaker Daniel Perez blocked the governor's proposed AI Bill of Rights after it passed the Senate, aligning with the federal administration's opposition to burdensome state requirements, and a December presidential executive order directed work toward a minimally burdensome national standard. For Southwest Florida families, the fight decides who sets the rules their children meet online — Tallahassee, Washington, or the platforms themselves.