JD Vance tells Europeans that heavy regulation could kill AI
The US vice-president also appears to take aim at China at a delicate moment for the US technology sector
US Vice-President JD Vance told Europeans on Tuesday (Feb 11) their “massive” regulations on artificial intelligence could strangle the technology, and rejected content moderation as “authoritarian censorship”.
The mood on AI has shifted as the technology takes root, from one of concerns around safety to geopolitical competition, as countries jockey to nurture the next big AI giant.
Vance, setting out the Trump administration’s America First agenda, said the US intended to remain the dominant force in AI and strongly opposed the European Union’s far tougher regulatory approach.
“We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry,” Vance told an AI summit of CEOs and heads of state in Paris.
“We feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship,” he added.
Vance criticised the “massive regulations” created by the EU’s Digital Services Act, as well as Europe’s online privacy rules, known by the acronym GDPR, which he said meant endless legal compliance costs for smaller firms.
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“Of course, we want to ensure the Internet is a safe place, but it is one thing to prevent a predator from preying on a child on the Internet, and it is something quite different to prevent a grown man or woman from accessing an opinion that the government thinks is misinformation,” he said.
European lawmakers last year approved the bloc’s AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive set of rules governing the technology.
Vance is leading the American delegation at the Paris summit.
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China warning
Vance also appeared to take aim at China at a delicate moment for the US technology sector.
Last month, Chinese startup DeepSeek freely distributed a powerful AI reasoning model that some said challenged US technology leadership. It sent shares of American chip designer Nvidia down 17 per cent.
“From CCTV to 5G equipment, we’re all familiar with cheap tech in the marketplace that’s been heavily subsidised and exported by authoritarian regimes,” Vance said.
But he said that “partnering with them means chaining your nation to an authoritarian master that seeks to infiltrate, dig in and seize your information infrastructure. Should a deal seem too good to be true? Just remember the old adage that we learnt in Silicon Valley: if you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product.”
Vance did not mention DeepSeek by name. There has been no evidence of information being able to surreptitiously flow through the startup’s technology to China’s government, and the underlying code is freely available to use and view. However, some government organisations have reportedly banned DeepSeek’s use.
EU to cut red tape
Speaking after Vance, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he was fully in favour of trimming red tape, but he stressed that regulation was still needed to ensure trust in AI, or people would end up rejecting it. “We need a trustworthy AI,” he said.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also said the EU would cut red tape and invest more in AI.
In a bilateral meeting, Vance and von der Leyen were also likely to discuss Trump’s substantial increase of tariffs on steel.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was expected to address the summit on Tuesday. A consortium led by Musk said on Monday it had offered US$97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit controlling OpenAI.
Altman promptly posted on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for US$9.74 billion if you want.”
The technology world has closely watched whether the Trump administration will ease recent antitrust enforcement that had seen the US sue or investigate the industry’s biggest players.
Vance said the US would champion American AI – which big players develop – he also said: “Our laws will keep Big Tech, little tech, and all other developers on a level playing field.” REUTERS
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