Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leans into AI skepticism, seeking a contrast with Vance

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is not convinced by the massive expansion of AI.

And this conviction could allow him to regain national political relevance.

The Republican governor is appealing to a growing number of people who fear that rapid development of AI, fueled in part by taxpayer dollars, could eliminate jobs, raise energy costs and harm the environment. DeSantis’ positions stand in direct contrast to the AI ​​industry embrace of President Donald Trump and the two potential candidates most likely to gain his support in the 2028 presidential race: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“We don’t want to see them build a huge data center and then send you the bill,” DeSantis said this month when asked about AI companies. “Data centers consume the equivalent of a city of half a million inhabitants. We are very committed to consumer protection.”

For DeSantis, embracing AI skepticism is rooted in both personal policy preference and a 2028-focused political calculus as the term-limited governor plots his political future, according to eight sources, most of whom worked in his administration or during his past campaigns at the national and state levels. Many of them requested anonymity to speak candidly.

“It’s a no-brainer, right? You have JD Vance and Marco Rubio, the two top contenders for 2028 in the pro-AI path,” said a longtime DeSantis adviser. “The infrastructure is lining up behind JD and, to some extent, Marco. So the challenge for DeSantis is to stay relevant.”

Taryn Fenske, a policy aide to DeSantis, said the governor was skeptical because of the potential societal dangers of AI.

“The governor is skeptical of artificial intelligence because chatbots convince children to commit suicide,” she said.

DeSantis is also the head of a state that the AI ​​industry is likely to target, making him the center of a broader fight between AI skeptics and supporters.

NBC News reported this month that Leading the Future, a pro-AI super PAC, was spending $5 million on television ads to boost Republican Rep. Byron Donalds’ campaign for governor of Florida. Donalds is the only state-level politician the group has spent money to help, and officials said it’s an indication that AI companies will look to expand their footprint there in the future.

A recent poll suggests that AI could be a relevant issue in the upcoming midterm elections and the 2028 presidential race. A poll conducted this month by The Economist and YouGov found that 63% of US citizens surveyed – including 60% who voted for Trump in 2024 – believe that advances in AI will reduce the number of jobs available in the country. A majority of respondents, 33 percent, said AI would have a “more negative than positive” impact on the U.S. economy.

And a Morning Consult poll from November found that a 41% majority of registered voters favored banning the construction of data centers near their homes; 36% oppose such a ban, while 22% say they don’t know or have no opinion.

DeSantis and the Trump administration are already at odds on the issue.

Trump’s AI czar, David Sacks, and other administration allies have directly lobbied against DeSantis’ push to get Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature to implement state-level regulations on AI and the massive data centers needed to accommodate the industry’s boom. These bills remain on the table, but as Florida’s legislative session draws to a close, their passage becomes increasingly unlikely.

“There are people… who almost gloat over the fact that they think this is just displacing human beings and that ultimately AI will run society, and you can’t control it,” DeSantis said during a panel discussion on AI earlier this month. “Count me in on that.”

DeSantis and Trump themselves have publicly buried the hatchet, including playing golf together this month, after a brutal GOP presidential primary in 2024. But as jockeying begins to become the first post-Trump Republican presidential candidate, that doesn’t mean DeSantis, notoriously politically neck-and-neck, won’t seek to use the fight over AI regulation as a political cudgel against Trump allies such as Vance and Rubio.

“You know the story of the scorpion and the frog? Ron DeSantis is looking for his moment to stab the White House on something, and it could very well be AI,” said a longtime DeSantis policy adviser who currently represents AI industry clients.

“And you know why he’s going to do that?” » added the person. “Because he’s Ron DeSantis. That’s what he does.”

During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump said his administration had struck a deal with big tech companies to force them to pay more of the energy costs associated with building massive data centers.

“We’re telling big tech companies that they have an obligation to provide for their own electricity needs – they can build their own power plants as part of their factory, so that nobody’s prices go up – and in many cases electricity prices will go down for the community,” the president said.

For now, DeSantis’ AI strategy would likely focus to some extent on Vance, who in most public polls has been the overwhelming leader for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, even as Rubio has gained momentum in recent weeks.

Vance, with his experience in Silicon Valley venture capital and connections to high-profile figures in Big Tech, is known as one of the Republican Party’s biggest AI champions.

At last year’s Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, the vice president warned that excessive regulation “could kill a transforming industry” and pledged the Trump administration’s support for “pro-growth AI policies.”

At the same time, Vance tried to reassure both sides of the debate.

Last fall, in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Vance compared the rise in AI jobs to the arrival of ATMs decades ago. Human bank tellers, Vance noted, still exist. He also linked his pro-AI stance to his anti-immigration views. Using the example of home construction, Vance described robots as complementary to “blue-collar” workers and immigrant workers, as an outright threat to replace them on construction sites.

“No robot can replace a great construction worker,” Vance said. “You see some of the houses, some of the things they do, the finishes they’re able to do. There’s an art there that I don’t think a robot will ever be able to replace.”

Vance has more recently expressed concerns about AI, telling Fox News’ Martha MacCallum last week that he was specifically worried about it being used to surveil Americans or to promote invasions of privacy and political bias. In that same interview, Vance also illustrated the differences between him and DeSantis when it comes to AI regulation. DeSantis has pushed for state-level regulation, while Vance, as well as the Trump administration more broadly, has supported the industry-backed idea that Congress pass a national regulatory bill.

“I think eventually there will be a standard enforced, whether it’s a federal standard or a dominant state standard,” Vance told MacCallum when asked for his thoughts on the regulations. “I think, frankly, the worst possible outcome would be for California, on the far left, to dominate the entire AI regulatory map.”

Representatives for Vance did not respond to requests for comment.

An official close to the DeSantis administration said the governor sees opportunity in the growing number of average people who feel sidelined and negatively affected by the growth of AI.

“Look at all these trillions of dollars being spent on AI and data centers. They have no idea how it will ever benefit them,” the person said. “These things are aimed more at businesses than at individuals, and they see it as something that is going to increase costs and replace them.”

“For DeSantis, this is a populist play,” the person added. “And it’s perfect for him.”

The former official said there are, to some extent, broader geopolitical concerns to consider as the United States engages in an “arms race” with China over the expansion of AI – and the almost inevitable change in the modern world that this struggle will bring.

“The reality is this is an arms race, a Cold War arms race against China investing tons of money in AI,” the person said. “If you’re on Team Trump, the only way to get out of debt right now is to radically improve productivity and increase production.”

“International investors I speak with are perplexed as to how anyone in the U.S. could be anti-AI right now,” the person said. “It just makes things easier for China.”

Across the country, people are strongly opposing efforts to bring massive data centers to their cities and towns. Most national polls favor building data centers, but the numbers plummet when people are asked if they would like one in their backyard.

“Nationally, when you talk about data centers, it’s about 60% of polls,” said one adviser who works with pro-AI groups. “But when you tell the people of Loudoun County, if they want one in Loudoun County, the numbers are really, really bad,” the person said, referring to the Virginia county.

“Nationally, this all looks good and tasty,” the advisor added. “But when you get to the local stuff, you’re f—–.”