Independent, nonpartisan advisory body building the policy infrastructure Florida's AI economy requires but does not yet have.
Florida attracted $4.89 billion in venture capital in 2024 and $830 million in AI-specific funding in the first half of 2025 alone. It has enacted zero AI policy frameworks.
$4.89B
Florida venture capital, 2024
Pitchbook
$830M
AI-focused funding, Miami metro, H1 2025 alone
eMerge Insights
2.3%
FL students enrolled in computer science
Code.org
0
State AI policy frameworks enacted
FL Legislature
FOR AI COMPANIESFOR LEGISLATORS & STAFFFOR UNIVERSITIESFOR INVESTORS
The Landscape
Palantir moved its headquarters to Aventura. D-Wave is relocating to Boca Raton. ServiceNow announced an AI innovation hub in West Palm Beach. More than 30 firms relocated or expanded to South Florida in 2024-2025. Thirty-three percent of funded Florida companies identified artificial intelligence as a primary business function in the first half of 2025. Miami ranks fifth nationally as a startup ecosystem. Florida ranks sixth in venture capital deal value.
No entity in the state connects twelve university AI programs to the employers funding 270 venture deals per half-year. No advisory body translates AI capabilities into legislation the House and Senate can act on. No system identifies at-risk occupations before displacement reaches Florida's 9.3 million-person workforce.
The Governor proposes an AI Bill of Rights. The House Speaker argues AI is a federal issue. Arkansas, Maryland, South Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, and Virginia now mandate computer science education. Ohio has funded 50,000 technology credentials through its TechCred program. Virginia committed $1.1 billion to tech talent through the Tech Talent Investment Program. Colorado enacted the nation's first AI liability law. New York launched a $400 million public-private AI computing consortium. Florida has done none of these things. The Council exists to close that gap before the 2027 legislative session makes it permanent.
Our Approach
The Council produces four categories of work: original policy research grounded in Florida-specific data, legislative analysis delivered before each session, competitiveness benchmarking against peer states, and legal infrastructure design for AI business formation. Every publication is nonpartisan, evidence-based, and freely available.
We do not lobby. We do not advocate for specific companies. We produce the research that lobbyists, legislators, universities, and companies need to make informed decisions. Our model is Brookings at the state level: quality, independence, impact.
The Council's geographic scope is statewide. Our research covers all 67 Florida counties, from the defense and aerospace corridor along the Panhandle to the fintech concentration in South Florida. AI policy that serves only Miami is not AI policy for Florida.
The Gap
The Associated Industries of Florida assembled Google, Meta, and Amazon to lobby against state-level AI regulation. The Florida Chamber of Commerce published an AI Readiness Index but operates no AI workforce or policy program. The Florida Technology Council has two full-time staff and no AI research capacity. eMerge Americas announced a "Florida AI Council" in December 2025; three months later, it has no members, no website, and no publications. No organization in Florida is producing independent, evidence-based AI policy for the state. There are entities that lobby. There are entities that convene. There is no entity that builds.
What Other States Have Built
Ohio TechCred: 50,000+ AI/tech credentials funded
Virginia TTIP: $1.1B committed to tech talent
Colorado SB24-205: AI liability framework
New York Empire AI: $400M computing consortium
California AB 2876: K-12 AI literacy framework
Utah: First regulatory sandbox for AI/fintech
What Florida Has Built
SB 7054: Government AI procurement framework
SB 1680: Government generative AI transparency
No private-sector AI liability framework
No AI workforce program
No AI regulatory sandbox
No K-12 AI education mandate
Research Standards
Council publications are produced under a five-stage review process: primary data collection from state and federal sources, independent analysis by Council researchers, subject-matter review by relevant board members, external peer review by at least one qualified expert, and final editorial review for accuracy and accessibility.
The Council does not accept funding from entities whose products or policies are under active Council review. Every statistic is sourced. Every policy recommendation is tied to a specific statutory mechanism. Our analysis can be handed to a committee staffer, a general counsel, or a university provost and used without qualification.
Agenda
01
Education Reform
Arkansas, Maryland, South Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, and Virginia now mandate computer science education. California developed a K-12 AI literacy framework with Stanford. Florida meets five of nine Code.org benchmark policies for computer science education. Only 2.3% of Florida's 2.9 million K-12 students are enrolled in a foundational computer science course. The state has no CS graduation requirement, no dedicated CS education office, no funded teacher pipeline, and no AI literacy framework. Approximately 1,200 certified CS teachers serve 2.9 million students.
UF AI Initiative: $70M+ invested since 2020, 230+ AI courses, 100 strategic AI faculty hires. Bright Futures: ~110,000 students, $600M+ annually, with no AI-specific enhancements.The Council's agenda: coordinate 12 state universities, the USF Bellini College of AI, and 28 state colleges into a unified, employer-integrated pipeline. Propose AI enhancements to the Bright Futures scholarship and expand the CAPE certification framework to include AI industry credentials.
02
Workforce Transition
Ohio has funded over 50,000 technology credentials through its TechCred program since 2019, reimbursing employers up to $2,000 per credential. Virginia committed $1.1 billion to tech talent through the Tech Talent Investment Program. Florida vetoed its own AI workforce study. The state has 1.4 million veterans, 20 military installations, a defense sector generating $100B+ annually and 860,000+ jobs, and no AI-specific transition program.
1.4 million veterans. 20 military installations. Zero AI-specific transition programs. The Council's Veterans to AI initiative connects Department of Defense SkillBridge placements to state college AI certificates and employer matching through CareerSource Florida.The Council's agenda: develop predictive displacement models across Florida's 67 counties, design an AI micro-credential framework for the state college system serving ~800,000 students, and build the first statewide pipeline from military service to AI employment.
03
Legal Infrastructure
No state has established an AI-specialized business court. No state has a private-sector AI liability framework. Colorado's SB24-205, the most ambitious attempt, takes effect in February 2026. Florida's only AI legislation covers government procurement. Delaware generates $2.4 billion annually from corporate formation law, built on a single specialized court that adjudicates disputes for 66% of Fortune 500 companies. The state that builds equivalent infrastructure for AI captures a comparable structural advantage.
Delaware model: $2.4B annually from corporate formation law. 66% of Fortune 500 incorporated in Delaware.The Council's agenda: design the legal infrastructure that makes Florida the default jurisdiction for AI business formation, including an AI regulatory sandbox modeled on Utah's program, clear liability allocation for multi-party AI systems, and FDUTPA enforcement guidance for AI applications.
04
Industry Competitiveness
Sixth nationally in venture capital deal value. Ranked in the bottom third of states for AI readiness by the Florida Chamber of Commerce's own index. AI-focused funding in the Miami metro reached $830 million in the first half of 2025, nearly matching all of 2024. Palantir, D-Wave, ServiceNow, Varonis, and more than 30 other firms relocated or expanded in 2024-2025. Florida has no R&D tax incentives for AI development, no state procurement framework for AI systems, and no structured talent retention strategy for AI researchers.
33% of funded Florida companies cited AI as a primary business function in H1 2025. 30+ firms relocated or expanded to South Florida, 2024-2025.The Council's agenda: produce a quarterly competitiveness index benchmarking Florida against the top five AI states, advise on targeted incentive structures, and develop the data infrastructure to make relocation decisions evidence-based rather than anecdotal.
Forthcoming · Q2 2026
The AI Company Operating Guide for Florida
Regulatory requirements, tax structure, workforce pipelines, liability frameworks, and legal infrastructure for artificial intelligence companies operating in or considering relocation to Florida. Covers SB 7054 compliance, FDUTPA enforcement exposure, Bright Futures talent pipeline access, and the state's 12-university AI research network.
Q2 2026AI Company Operating Guide for Florida publishedQ2 2026Founding board announcedQ3 2026First Florida AI Competitiveness IndexQ3 2026Inaugural quarterly conveningQ4 2026Legal Infrastructure for AI publishedPre-Session 2027Legislative AI Bill Forecast delivered to committee staff
Publication Pipeline
Florida AI Competitiveness IndexQuarterly benchmarking against California, Texas, New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts across 14 dimensions: R&D investment, talent density, university output, patent activity, corporate relocation rate, and regulatory environment.
Quarterly
Legislative AI Bill ForecastPre-session analysis of pending AI legislation, committee assignment patterns, sponsor history, and likelihood of passage. Delivered to committee staff and industry stakeholders before each session.
Pre-Session
State of AI in FloridaAnnual survey of funding flows, corporate relocations, talent pipeline metrics, university program enrollment, and the evolving policy environment across all 67 counties.
Annual
AI Workforce Displacement Risk AssessmentPredictive modeling of occupation-level displacement risk across Florida's 67 counties, with transition pathway recommendations for CareerSource Florida and the state college system.
Annual
Legal Infrastructure for AI: The Delaware AnalogyAnalysis of specialized court structures, regulatory sandbox design, and liability frameworks that could position Florida as the default jurisdiction for AI business formation.
Q4 2026
Founding Board
The founding board is limited to seven seats, structured so that no single sector - industry, government, academia, or capital - holds a majority. Three commitments have been received. The inaugural publication ships Q2 2026.
Founding members participate in quarterly convenings, contribute to agenda working groups, receive advance access to all Council publications, and review draft policy recommendations before release. Membership is by invitation and application.
Board candidates are evaluated on three criteria: domain expertise in AI policy, workforce development, or legal infrastructure; active engagement with Florida's AI ecosystem; and ability to contribute to at least one Council working group. Founding board membership is not honorary.