National GOP reamed by Ron DeSantis over AI oversight

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) had some harsh words for President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress on Monday about the renewed push to bar states from passing their own regulations on artificial intelligence.

DeSantis, who is pushing his own "citizen Bill of Rights" on AI, spoke out in reaction to reports that Trump is going to issue an executive order that blocks any state regulation, a measure all but certain to be challenged in federal court.

"An executive order doesn’t/can’t preempt state legislative action," wrote DeSantis in a post on X. "Congress could, theoretically, preempt states through legislation. The problem is that Congress hasn’t proposed any coherent regulatory scheme but instead just wanted to block states from doing anything for 10 years, which would be an AI amnesty."

"I doubt Congress has the votes to pass this because it is so unpopular with the public," DeSantis added.

The issue of how to regulate AI has been a divisive topic for Republicans in Washington — as NBC News' Sahil Kapur noted, a previous attempt to put this same state preemption in Trump's tax cut megabill led to a widespread revolt by lawmakers, including on the far right like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who are concerned about a free-for-all where AI can go into everything without any oversight or study on the possible effects.

"Republicans tried to ban state AI regulation in OBBBA, but ultimately stripped out the provision after facing heavy criticism along the lines of what Ron DeSantis is saying here: If Congress wants to set the standard, fine, but don't block states while you continue to do nothing," wrote Kapur on X.