DeSantis Loses His Own Party. Twice.

Ron DeSantis could not get Florida's Republican-controlled legislature to pass AI regulation during the regular session earlier this year. So he pushed it into a special session that opened in late April 2026.

Same result.

According to NBC News, House Speaker Daniel Perez — a Republican with a well-documented feud with DeSantis — announced at the opening of the special session on April 28 that the AI proposal was dead on arrival. Not a single Republican in the Florida House even filed the legislation DeSantis requested. You can't pass a bill that doesn't exist.

Perez Hides Behind Trump

Perez framed his refusal as deference to federal authority. "I understand the governor's concerns of wanting to protect children," he said, according to NBC News. "But we have seen very clearly that the president of the United States issued an executive order stating the federal government should take the handle of the AI policies in this country."

Convenient. Perez and DeSantis have been feuding for a while, and now Perez gets to block his governor while claiming he's just following President Trump's lead.

Perez isn't entirely wrong on the substance. Trump's administration has made its position clear: AI regulation belongs at the federal level. Big Tech agrees, for obvious reasons. One national standard beats 50 state frameworks trying to regulate something that doesn't respect state lines.

The Senate Passed It. Didn't Matter.

The Florida Senate — more aligned with DeSantis — actually passed AI legislation on a bipartisan vote, per NBC News. Without the House, it goes nowhere.

DeSantis came out swinging after the kill. "Voters elected Republicans to protect freedom against both the Big Tech cartel and the medical industrial complex," he wrote on social media. "Yet, when given the chance to deliver for their constituents, not a single Republican House member could even be bothered to file a bill."

The failure to even introduce the legislation suggests either political cowardice or industry capture — if you believe in the proposal's merits.

What DeSantis Actually Wants

DeSantis' concerns have focused on two things, according to NBC News: opposition to massive data center expansion and protecting children from AI dangers. Data centers consume enormous amounts of water and electricity. AI-generated content targeting kids is a documented, growing problem.

His broader pitch is that he wants to be the national face of Republican AI skepticism. The underlying policy questions are legitimate.

The Real Story: A GOP Civil War Over Tech Policy

This is a genuine ideological split inside the Republican Party. One camp — aligned with Trump and the tech industry — says federal preemption is the answer. Let Washington set the rules, keep states out of it, don't slow down American AI development while China races ahead.

The other camp — DeSantis and, interestingly, some Democrats — says states have both the right and the obligation to protect their citizens when Washington won't move fast enough.

Both positions are defensible. Both have real tradeoffs.

What's less defensible is the way Big Tech money is almost certainly shaping the outcome. AI-aligned super PACs have been flooding the airwaves, according to NBC News. Corporations that stand to lose billions under state-level regulations are not sitting on the sideline here. The Hill reported that Florida GOP leaders and candidates are "doubling down" on the push — suggesting this fight isn't over even as DeSantis prepares to leave the governorship.

Perez vs. DeSantis: Personal or Principled?

Perez and DeSantis have a long-running feud. When a politician refuses to even allow a bill to be filed — not debated, not voted down, just not filed — it's worth asking how much of that is principle and how much is personal.

A legislature that refuses to debate a proposal isn't doing its job. You're supposed to argue, vote, and let the record stand. Killing a bill before it exists is a procedural dodge.

The Bottom Line

If you live in Florida, your state legislature just decided that questions about AI data centers in your backyard and AI content targeting your kids will be handled in Washington — where tech lobbying is even more concentrated and your individual senator matters even less.

Maybe federal regulation is the right answer. Maybe it isn't. But Floridians never got to see their elected representatives actually debate it and vote on it. That's a failure of basic democratic function.

DeSantis is leaving office. The fight over AI regulation — at the state level, the federal level, or both — is NOT going away. And right now, the side with the most money is winning.