The Florida Senate voted to regulate AI data centers on Feb. 26, 2026. (Stock photo by Tolgart/Getty Images)
A DeSantis-backed bill banning artificial intelligence data center companies from keeping secret their plans to locate or expand in Florida unanimously cleared the Senate Floor Thursday.
The new regulations come amid a deepening rift in Republican politics over AI. President Donald Trump has led the charge on welcoming the explosive growth while Gov. Ron DeSantis has carved out a lane of his own, warning that the lack of guardrails could lead to future “darkness and deceit.”
SB 486 by Republican Sen. Bryan Avila hopes to strike that balance.
It wouldn’t outright ban the centers — large warehouses designed to operate large-scale artificial intelligence processors — but it would prevent Florida residents from paying the hefty utility costs that the facilities incur.
“It is a product that enforces local government authority,” said Avila, from Miami. “It protects our residents, our ratepayers, first and foremost.”
The measure requires Florida’s Public Service Commission to ensure data centers pay for their own utilities, not the general body of ratepayers. It also would retain local governments’ authority to regulate land development with respect to large-load customers.
SB 484 specifically tweaks existing law that provides for a 12-month public record exemption for developers seeking to locate, move, or expand a business in Florida.
Under the bill, companies would have to disclose that they plan a data center and which jurisdiction they’re looking to move into, although for 12 months specific details would be exempt from public record.
They wouldn’t be able to apply for an additional 12-month public record exemption the way other businesses can under existing statute, the bill says.
As Florida moves to regulate AI, the Trump administration has rapidly pushed in the opposite direction. Over the past few weeks, Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been locked in harsh negotiations with Anthropic, an AI company refusing to allow its software used to surveil civilians or empower autonomous weapons.
He’s threatened to label the company a supply chain risk if it doesn’t comply.
DeSantis lightly weighed in on the debate on social media. He sarcastically responded to a report claiming that AI models recommended using nukes 95% of the time in simulated war games, writing, “Gee, imagine that?”
SB 484’s companion bill in the House cleared its final committee on Thursday. The House version is similar to the Senate’s, but would explicitly ban most data centers near residential areas and schools.