The DeSantis Loyalist Taking on Big Tech

POLITICO's magazine section has published a profile of James Uthmeier, characterised as a DeSantis loyalist taking on Big Tech. The article states that Florida's Legislature has already rejected AI restrictions twice. The piece is built around Uthmeier's posture toward the technology industry rather than around any single legislative or legal action described in detail, and the excerpt provided summarises the article's framing rather than walking through a specific proceeding.

The profile quotes a University of Florida law professor who says Uthmeier is "trying to regulate the AI industry when even Congress is not ready." That quotation is the only named assessment of Uthmeier's approach carried in the excerpt. POLITICO also notes bipartisan legislation from Sen. Josh Hawley and Sen. Chris Murphy that would hold operators and developers of AI agents criminally and civilly liable for hacking incidents — language covering both operators and developers, and both criminal and civil exposure, with hacking incidents as the trigger.

The article places a state-level figure's activity alongside federal legislation that has been introduced but not, per the excerpt, enacted. The excerpt does not name the specific Florida measures the Legislature rejected on either occasion, does not identify the legal instrument Uthmeier is using, and does not include comment from the technology companies referenced in the headline framing.