Florida Sen. Bryan Avila acknowledges his pair of AI bills present a quandary: Attempt to regulate data centers enough that they don鈥檛 harm the environment, but not too much that they鈥檙e not built within the state.
And although the Miami Republican believes he鈥檚 struck the right balance with and , he told the Senate Community Affairs Committee Tuesday afternoon, he鈥檒l also have to span the widening AI policy rift between President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Republicans who have taken nearly opposite stances on the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that we have some parameters in place to protect these natural resources, especially as it pertains to water, but also maintain that balance with being a leader in technology,鈥� Avila said. 鈥淲e want to maintain that we are at the forefront of technological advances, but 鈥� we want to make sure we also strike that balance and make sure that we protect our ratepayers from higher electricity costs.鈥�
SB 484 would require Florida鈥檚 Public Service Commission to ensure big customers 鈥� like data centers 鈥� pay for their own utilities, not the general body of ratepayers. It also would retain local governments鈥� authority to regulate land development with respect to large-load customers.
And although the bill would prevent AI agencies from entering into non-disclosure agreements regarding potential data center developments, SB 1118 鈥� controversially 鈥� ensures some secrecy remains. It envisions a one-year public records exemption for information relating to the plans, intentions, or interests of an entity looking to build a data center.
Trump, DeSantis, AIBut Avila doesn鈥檛 just have to contend with business and environment with his legislation. He needs to balance Trump鈥檚 pro-AI stance with DeSantis鈥� acutely cautious position.
Although Trump has allied himself with tech lords like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, even signing an executive order to punish states that over-regulate the industry, DeSantis has emphasized the dangers of unfettered AI.
The governor isn鈥檛 opposed to all AI growth or business, but he鈥檚 taken a wary approach (warning of an age of 鈥溾��) by lobbying lawmakers to pass a stringent to protect consumers. Many provisions he wanted have been placed into a hefty package carried by Sen. Tom Leek, which has already passed its first Senate committee.
One of DeSantis鈥� biggest concerns are AI data centers. He鈥檚 pointed out that the facilities, designed to process the massive data required to operate language learning models, require massive amounts of energy and water, neither of which are free nor always environmentally sound.
DeSantis hosted an event at New College of Florida Wednesday morning alongside AI experts.
Unless energy production rises with consumption, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 very many people that want to have higher energy bills just so some chatbot can try to corrupt some 13-year-old kid online. That is not what anybody is signing up for,鈥� DeSantis said to a round of applause.
A medium-sized data center could require up to 110 million gallons of water per year and a large one up to 1.8 billion gallons per year, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute
will be the site of Meta鈥檚 new $10 billion data center, set to be the company鈥檚 largest of 20 centers worldwide.
鈥淎re we going to beat China in military or medical? Fine, then launch a Manhattan Project for our military to be able to do, but what the hell does that have to do with sexually suggestive chatbots, what does that have to do with taking a scene from On the Waterfront and putting your friend鈥檚 head on Marlon Brando鈥檚 body and say, 鈥極h isn鈥檛 that fun?鈥� I mean like, yeah I laugh at it, I don鈥檛 want to pay higher energy bills to be able to do that,鈥� DeSantis said.
DeSantis called it is a 鈥渧ery radical proposal鈥� to allow technology companies free reign on developing AI.
One of the experts alongside DeSantis, AngelQ CEO Tim Estes, called for a 鈥渄istinctly American form of AI.鈥�
鈥淎n AI that鈥檚 trustworthy, truth-seeking, loyal to humans, and supportive of human freedom, pro-human AI that supports democracy, property rights, and, above all, human dignity,鈥� Estes said.
鈥業mpossible position鈥橞oth of Avila鈥檚 bills overwhelmingly passed Tuesday鈥檚 committee vote, and both now head to their final pit stop before the Floor: the Rules Committee.
Only Sen. Jason Pizzo, an independent from Sunny Isles, raised concerns 鈥� specifically about the public records exemption. He worried the public鈥檚 trust in local officials will be quashed if they鈥檙e kept in the dark about the land interests of data center developers.
鈥淭he greatest implication and consequence of this bill is that local mayors and commissioners will look like they took a kickback. It will make it impossible for them to convince their constituents that they didn鈥檛 take something from a billionaire developer 鈥� and keep it quiet,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an impossible position to put local officials in.鈥�
The records exemption is designed to prevent land prices from skyrocketing once builders or other members of the public learn that a massive data center is planned for a particular area, Avila said.
This isn鈥檛 Florida鈥檚 first AI-related legislation. Over the past few years, the Sunshine State has joined a host of other states in passing legislation to crack down on AI-generated sexual images and require disclaimers on political advertisements using artificial intelligence.
The sudden uptick in AI-related bills nationwide matches the pace with which AI companies have burst onto the scene, raking in record levels of money. Now that Musk鈥檚 SpaceX has acquired his AI startup, xAI, it鈥檚 on track to become the first trillion-dollar company.
AI startups have minted dozens of new billionaires, with nearly 500 AI startups founded in 2023 or later valued at roughly $1 billion or more, CNBC
Jay Waagmeester contributed to this story, which has been updated with material from DeSantis event.
is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
