DeSantis wants AI regulation; insurance lobby says Florida has it under control
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Florida already applies the law as equally to AI as it does to humans, witnesses say.
This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix.
Although Gov. Ron DeSantis for months has hinted at legislation addressing the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, insurance lobbyists argued before a Florida House panel Tuesday that state law already regulates AI in the insurance sphere.
The four witnesses plus an AI subject-matter expert spoke to the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee during a panel discussion about AI use in the insurance industry. The meeting followed DeSantis’ months-long push to address the skyrocketing energy costs of artificial intelligence and the growing concern over AI taking human jobs.
The lobbyists insisted generative AI is helping to process claims and detect fraud, adding that AI, designed to help — not replace — the workforce, is just as subject to the Florida Insurance Code as humans are.
“Any decision made or any action taken by an insurance company, be it by a person, a human, an AI platform, all of that is governed by Florida law,” said Paul Martin, vice president for state affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. He added that the insurance company will always be at fault for errors committed by anyone — human or robot — on its behalf.
“The claims laws apply irrespective of the source of the wrong decision, the bad decision. If it’s an AI platform that makes a mistake, if it’s a human that makes a mistake, that same law applies,” he added.
DeSantis and AI
AI is one of the few policy areas in which DeSantis has appeared to break with President Donald Trump. The U.S. House of Representatives in May passed a major budget bill banning states from passing AI regulations for a decade, although the Senate promptly blocked it.
In one of his first social media posts critiquing AI, DeSantis questioned why Congress would want to “kneecap” states’ ability to control the technology.
“It basically means we’re going to be at the beck and call of Silicon Valley tech overlords,” he said during a subsequent press conference.
He’s since cast dark predictions that AI will eat into white-collar jobs while dismissing it as a “regurgitation of bullsh—.” More recently, he’s slammed the technology’s massive thirst for energy, arguing that taxpayers and utility ratepayers are footing the bill.
Despite these qualms, DeSantis vetoed a bill during the 2025 session that would have studied AI in the workforce, noting that the technology is spreading so quickly that the study would be obsolete as soon as completed.
Jarrett Catlin, of the pro-AI lobby TechNet, stressed that piecemeal regulation by the Office of Insurance Regulation would be better than sweeping statutory changes by the state government. He asked lawmakers to avoid passing AI packages using a one-size-fits-all-approach, and instead use targeted legislation when specific issues arise.
“Targeted is always better,” Catlin said. “It’s a challenge to figure out how to … fit those different rules and regulations across all these different industries.”
Colorado passed the nation’s first comprehensive AI regulation package in 2024, but a recent special session called to handle budget shortfalls became a “battleground” for the law, complete with shouting matches throughout the Capitol halls, the Clark Hill consultancy reported.
Tech lobbyists, opposing the law, helped craft new legislation delaying its enactment until June 2026.
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