🦖 Florida AI Protections Advance in Legislature as Lawmakers Invoke “Jurassic Park”
- NewBits Media
- Jan 26
- 2 min read
Florida lawmakers just moved forward on sweeping new artificial-intelligence safeguards — and the debate is already invoking Hollywood-level warnings.
A proposal backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, often referred to as Florida’s AI Bill of Rights, unanimously cleared its first Senate committee this week. The 23-page measure aims to strengthen protections for children, consumers, and government systems as AI spreads rapidly into daily life.
📜 What Florida AI Protections Would Do
The legislation would:
🛑 Restrict AI “Companion Bots” for Minors
Companion chatbot platforms would be required to prevent minors from creating or maintaining accounts without parental consent, and to clearly disclose that users are interacting with AI, not a human.
🔒 Protect Personal Data
The bill would restrict the sale or disclosure of personal information, with limited exceptions such as deidentified data.
🖼️ Limit Unauthorized AI Likeness Use
The measure would strengthen restrictions on commercial use of a person’s AI-created name, image, or likeness without consent.
🌍 Block Foreign AI in Government
State and local agencies would be restricted from contracting with AI systems tied to a “foreign country of concern.”
Sen. Tom Leek, the bill’s sponsor, framed the effort as consumer-focused: protecting children and vulnerable adults rather than regulating every possible AI use case.
⚖️ Politics Meets Rapid Innovation
The bill lands amid growing divisions nationally over how aggressively to regulate AI. DeSantis has taken a more cautious tone, warning Floridians about unchecked systems and what he has labeled “AI slop.”
During committee testimony, labor advocate Rich Templin reportedly summed up the unease with a pop-culture analogy:
“Every time I think about this, I think about Jurassic Park… Just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should.”
⭐ Why It’s Important
As AI tools increasingly mimic emotional relationships, automate creative work, and power government systems, Florida’s proposal signals a growing push by states to draw early guardrails around powerful technologies.
The debate over Florida AI protections highlights a central tension shaping the next phase of AI policy: accelerating innovation versus protecting privacy, children, and public trust — before the technology outruns regulation.
Florida lawmakers will now refine the language as the proposal advances through additional committees, setting up what could become one of the most closely watched AI policy battles of 2026.
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