Vance warns Europe against over-regulation of emerging AI field
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US vice-president JD Vance at the Elysee Palace as part of the AI Action Summit in Paris on Feb 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – US Vice-President J.D. Vance said that the Trump administration will work to make the US the “gold standard worldwide” for artificial intelligence (AI) as he issued strong warnings against regulating political speech.
Speaking on Feb 11 to an audience in Paris that included several European Union leaders, he took particular aim at the bloc’s tough regulatory approach to social media platforms and AI, accusing it of trying to clamp down on Silicon Valley.
“The Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are considering tightening the screws on US tech companies with international footprints,” Mr Vance said during an AI summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Now America cannot and will not accept that, and we think it’s a terrible mistake, not just for the United States of America, but for your own countries.”
He said that the AI revolution would not occur “if we allow AI to become dominated by massive players looking to use the tech to censor or control users’ thoughts”. He also warned countries against helping foreign adversaries gain access to advanced AI technology.
Mr Vance’s appearance in Paris is his first major engagement on his first foreign trip as vice-president. It is a key test for the former Ohio senator, who has positioned himself as an heir apparent to President Donald Trump’s so-called Maga (Make America Great Again) movement.
Mr Vance is set to meet Mr Macron, and is expected to meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The encounter comes at a delicate moment for US-EU relations. Mr Trump and Mr Vance have been sharply critical of the EU over its regulatory policies they say target US technology companies, including Apple, Meta Platforms and Alphabet’s Google.
“Many of our most productive tech companies are forced to deal with the EU’s Digital Services Act and the massive regulations it created about taking down content and policing so-called misinformation,” Mr Vance said, referring to the bloc’s law that requires social media platforms to moderate content.
He added: “For some, the easiest way to avoid the dilemma has been to simply block EU users in the first place.”
Mr Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on the bloc over its trade policy, on Feb 10 announced 25 per cent tariffs on global imports of aluminium and steel.
Mr Vance also pledged to protect US chip technology from misuse by authoritarian regimes or foreign adversaries.
The Biden administration had restricted the export of AI chips from the likes of Nvidia to some EU member states. EU officials have been pushing for the Trump administration to reverse that decision.
“We will safeguard American AI and chip technologies from theft and misuse, work with our allies and partners to strengthen and extend these protections and close pathways to adversaries attaining AI capabilities that threaten all of our people,” he said.
“And I would also remind our international friends here today that partnering with such regimes, it never pays off in the long term.”
Later this week, Mr Vance will be one of several US officials attending the Munich Security Conference, where European allies will be seeking details of the Trump administration’s plans to resolve Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Political succession
Mr Vance has sought to carve out a policy portfolio in the midst of some of the Trump administration’s top priorities in his first weeks as vice-president.
He has also been a point person on Mr Trump’s nominations, cajoling individual senators to confirm some of the more controversial Cabinet picks.
An ideological convert to Mr Trump’s brand of economic populism, Mr Vance has also become one of Mr Trump’s most vocal and combative champions. And at 40, Mr Vance is nearly four decades younger than his 78-year-old boss, who is constitutionally prohibited from being elected president again in 2028.
Mr Trump, however, has so far specifically declined to endorse his chosen vice-president as his political successor.
Asked about it directly in a Fox News interview aired on Feb 10, Mr Trump praised Mr Vance as “very capable”, before adding that “I think you have a lot of very capable people”.
It is “too early” to make such a determination, he said.
European regulation
The technology space is a particular sweet spot for Mr Vance, whose interest extends beyond his professional connections as a former venture capitalist with close ties to billionaire Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley.
He was also deputised by Mr Trump to work with National Security Adviser Michael Waltz to secure a deal on purchasing the US arm of the popular social media application TikTok.
Yet it has also become a flashpoint for tensions between Europe and the new White House.
Over the past decade, the EU has sought to rein in technology companies, establishing hefty penalties for firms that fall foul of the bloc’s rules on AI, social media and competition.
US companies have often been on the receiving end of the bloc’s enforcement. Apple, Google and Meta have all been slapped with significant fines, and Mr Elon Musk’s X and Meta are facing probes under the EU’s content moderation rulebook that could result in fines of 6 per cent of their yearly global sales.
Mr Musk and Meta’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg have, in turn, ramped up their rhetoric against EU’s regulation, accusing the bloc of censorship.
Last week, Meta’s policy lead Joel Kaplan said the company would not sign an EU-sponsored code of practice for advanced AI models, calling it “unworkable and infeasible”.
With Silicon Valley and the Trump administration growing increasingly closer, the White House has been vocal about its displeasure with the EU crackdown. Speaking in Davos in January, Mr Trump lashed out at EU fines against tech companies, labelling them “a form of taxation” and announcing “some very big complaints with the EU”.
AI development
Mr Trump has framed AI development as a national security priority, casting it as essential for the US to maintain leadership in the sphere.
The intensified focus on AI comes as Chinese start-up DeepSeek jolted competitors in the US
Mr Vance did not refer to DeepSeek in his remarks, but insisted that the US would develop AI in a way that would benefit US workers.
“We believe and we will fight for policies that ensure that AI is going to make our workers more productive,” he said.
“And we expect that they will reap the rewards with higher wages, better benefits and safer and more prosperous communities.” BLOOMBERG
