Byron Donalds backs AI Bill of Rights, a priority of Ron DeSantis

Likely Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds says that he will work to get guardrails against abuses from artificial intelligence through the Legislature next year if ultimately elected.

“I know the Governor tried to get this stuff through the Legislature. It didn’t happen. We’re going to bring those proposals back and we’re going to work with the Legislature to make sure that we have protections in the law in the state of Florida,” he promised Friday in Clearwater.

Donalds was referring to the so-called AI Bill of Rights, passed by the Senate but not heard in the House amid a feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez.

Under the bill, companion chatbot platforms would be required to post pop-up reminders they are AI at the beginning of an interaction and at least once every hour. The platforms would also have to remind users to log off and take a break.

Parents would also be required to give consent for minors to use AI platforms.

Governments would also be barred from entering into contracts involving AI with certain foreign countries, such as China and Russia.

In addition, schools using AI would be required to give parents the option to opt their children out without any penalty.

The proposal also included protections for name, image, and likeness, which Donalds said ironically could cover some of the fire he’s gotten from other campaigns.

“We’ve all seen the videos. They make a lot of videos about me. You know what I find interesting? A lot of the people who are anti-AI are using a lot of AI. They don’t like AI, but they sure do use it. That’s okay. Life is full of irony. So, we have a situation where, yes, people can make an image or change the likeness or make a video of people. We want to be able to protect name, image, and likeness. Because nobody wants their reputation destroyed, simply because somebody had a bone to pick with you and decided to use AI to depict you doing all kind of ridiculous stuff.”

Donalds also said that hyperscale data centers in Florida would be capped in accordance with how much surplus power Florida has on the grid.

“Florida has about five gigawatts of excess power on its electric grid. Five. A hyperscale data center needs a gigawatt of power. So let’s just do the math. If there’s five gigawatts of X’s power and each one needs a gigawatt of power, the most Florida can really build is five. Five of them. Texas is doing a 100. The reason why Texas is doing 100 is because these data centers are using the natural gas in their shale deposits to power them. Florida is not doing that.”

He believes Florida should have “model policy … on data center construction” and “AI protections.” And he said that opponents calling for moratoriums on construction of data centers, such as likely General Election opponent David Jolly, do so to camouflage a lack of education on the subject.

“When you hear the word moratorium, that’s coming from a place where people say, ‘well, we need time to study it.’ Well, I agree. You should study things. I’m not saying you’d be reckless, but you also have to understand that when you start doing stuff like what New York just did, that’s a signal to the business community that this is not a place to invest capital. This is not a place to invest in businesses. And so we have to be balanced and be mindful about that. With the 14th largest economy in the world, we are a growing economy in Florida. We use common sense. We’re going to continue to use common sense, protecting our resources, and protecting our people.”

Donalds, who has earned support from data center developers, has made the case for these facilities to be in Florida, and has said new builds are much less resource-intensive than older construction.

He has argued that data stored in the state is more secure than data warehoused in other states or foreign countries, and has advocated for “small modular nuclear reactors and micronuclear reactors” and “closed-loop water filtration systems” as part of the builds.

Donalds supports law passed this year (SB 484) requiring data centers to cover their own utility services costs and infrastructure expenses was signed this year. The legislation also opened the door to using reclaimed water for cooling, and requires entities using more than 100,000 gallons per day to detail plans for water use and conservation.

The candidate likely will continue to face scrutiny for an expansive policy on data centers, given popular opposition to them. New polling from the University of North Florida shows 68% of Florida voters are opposed to having one in their area.