What key Republican critics are saying about President Trump's AI policies

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a leading Republican opponent of President Trump in 2024, has consistently criticized federal efforts to curb states' ability to regulate AI.

As lawmakers consider adding a moratorium on AI regulations to the annual defense bill in November, DeSantis wrote to X that doing so would be “subsidizing Big Tech.”

“The rise of AI is the most important economic and cultural shift occurring today,” DeSantis wrote. “Denying people the ability to distribute these technologies in a productive way through self-governance is federal overreach and allows technology companies to run amok.”

Following President Trump's executive order, DeSantis said at an AI roundtable event in Florida that he believes the order does not apply to the legislation the governor is moving forward in the state.

But he said he expects the state to prevail if the administration attempts to challenge Florida's law.

“Even if you read it very broadly, I think what we're doing will be very consistent,” DeSantis said of the executive order. “But regardless of that, clearly we have the right to do this.”

When Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene began cutting ties with the president over the summer, one of the issues the Georgia Republican highlighted was AI.

Notably, Greene admitted that she voted for an earlier version of the Big Beautiful Act without knowing that it contained a provision that would block state regulation of AI.

“I am adamantly opposed to this, it is a violation of states’ rights, and I would have voted against it had I known it was included,” Greene wrote to X in June.

The Georgia Republican again stepped up his criticism when the provision was being considered in November's annual defense bill.

“States must retain the right to regulate and legislate AI and anything else in their own interests. Federalism must be preserved,” Greene wrote about X.

Just a few days later, Greene announced that she would resign from Congress on January 5, after President Trump called her a “traitor” largely over her stance on the Epstein file.

Sen. Josh Hawley is one of the biggest Republican critics of the AI ​​industry in the Senate and has opposed efforts to limit state regulation of the technology.

“Similar to the issue of federalism, we want to allow states to try different systems that they think work for their state,” Hawley told Business Insider in June. “And in general, when it comes to AI, I think there needs to be smart oversight to protect people's liberties.”

When it was reported in November that AI provisions were not being considered in the defense bill, Hawley celebrated through a post on X.

“Good. This is a terrible clause and should remain out,” he wrote.

In June, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary during Trump's first term, led a group of 17 Republican governors to oppose the AI ​​moratorium in the Big Beautiful Act.

The bill's provisions are stronger than President Trump's executive order and would ban state-level AI regulation altogether for 10 years.

Sanders also wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post opposing the plan.

“Congress's proposal to strip every state of the right to regulate AI is the antithesis of what the Founders envisioned when they established our federal system,” she wrote in June.

Sanders spoke out again in November as lawmakers considered adding a similar provision to the national defense bill.

“Now is not the time to turn back,” she wrote to X. “Let’s stop pre-emptive planning now and protect our children and communities.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, one of the Republican governors who signed Sanders' letter, also continues to actively oppose efforts to limit state-level AI regulation.

“I'm very concerned about the federal government interfering in any way with states' ability to regulate AI,” Cox told NPR in November.

In December, as President Trump prepared to sign the executive order, Cox said more balance was needed.

“An Alternative AI Executive Order focused on human flourishing will strike the balance we need to protect our children, protect our values, and strengthen America's competitiveness. As the United States accelerates its leadership in AI, the nation must help protect children and families,” Cox wrote of X.