(LifeSiteNews) — The Trump administration is attempting to kill a Florida “Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights” that would impose limits on the use of AI such as setting parameters for when children can access AI chatbots.
The White House reached out to Florida Speaker of the House Daniel Perez and his staff to oppose Gov. Ron DeSantis’ AI protection bill, sources told The Daily Signal.
The “AI Bill of Rights” includes a ban on AI’s use of individuals’ name, image and likeness without their consent; prohibits organizations from providing “licensed” therapy through AI; allows parents to access their children’s conversation with chatbots, and restrict when children can access these platforms. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in recent years alleging that AI chatbot platforms have contributed to suicides.
The bill also allows parents to opt out of their child using AI tools at school. It recently passed the Senate, the Florida Phoenix reported, but has paused in the House of Representatives, raising questions as to whether it will pass.
President Donald Trump previously issued an executive order to enforce a uniform AI “framework” throughout the country and quash state AI laws that deviate from federal AI policy.
“There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI,” Trump wrote in a previous Truth Social post. White House “AI czar” David Sacks backed this policy, claiming that “patchwork” AI regulations will stifle innovation.
Perez supports White House policy in opposition to DeSantis, telling reporters that the federal government should have “first dibs” on AI regulation.
Really interesting dynamic here. Florida GOP is splitting over a Desantis AI bill, arguing they should punt regulatory oversight to the feds/Trump https://t.co/EUPF4hFdva
— Emily Jashinsky (@emilyjashinsky) February 24, 2026
“I’ve been very clear that I think AI is an issue that should be dealt with by the federal government. I have massive concerns with the state’s ability to deal with anything in tech,” Perez said.
Keith Flaugh, CEO of Florida Citizens Alliance, which has lobbied for the AI Bill of Rights, believes the legislation is of the utmost importance to protect children.
“AI, without regulation, will destroy the family unit when every child, either through the education system or just through getting a chat, has their own personal, godlike authority figure in their life, starting at age five or less,” Flaugh told The Daily Signal.
This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has pressured state lawmakers to ditch their own AI regulation in favor of submission to federal policy. The White House recently wrote to a Utah lawmaker urging him to nix his bill requiring tech companies to publish “safety and child-protection plans.”
“We are categorically opposed to Utah HB 286 and view it as an unfixable bill that goes against the Administration’s AI Agenda,” the letter states, according to The Daily Signal.
“This is clearly a warning to the rest of the country that the Trump administration is opposed to any legislation, political candidate, or governor, or state that is going to do anything that would make the AI companies unhappy,” remarked Michael Toscano, director of the Institute for Family Studies’ technology initiative.
A Trump administration official told The Daily Signal that the White House is against state AI regulations because they hurt tech companies.
Toscano slammed the White House policy, saying it aims to keep the bar for AI regulation as low as possible. In the case of the Utah law, it asks “frontier AI companies to just be clear about what its plans are for keeping the public safe and for children safe.”
“It strikes me that if that is a bar too high for the administration, what they’re trying to do is aim extremely low,” Toscano said. “I don’t know how much lower you go than that, with a transparency requirement. It’s hard to actually imagine what lower looks like.”
“This is a culture war against Trump’s own base,” Toscano said. “I’ve never seen anything like this, the dynamic where the White House is doing everything in its power to stop red states from passing common sense laws to protect people is shocking to the conscience.”
