US vice president criticizes EU’s regulatory approach to AI

ANKARA

US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday criticized the EU’s regulatory approach to artificial intelligence (AI) which could “kill a transformative industry.”

“We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry, just as it is taking off, and we will make every effort to encourage pro-growth AI policies. And I like to see that deregulatory flavor making its way into a lot of the conversations this conference,” Vance told an AI summit being held in Paris.

The vice president stressed that the US wants to cooperate with the EU, and added: “But to create that kind of trust, we need international regulatory regimes that fosters the creation of AI technology rather than strangles it.”

He called on European countries to “look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation,” and noted that the US developed an action plan “that avoids an overly precautionary regulatory regime.”

Vance said the US “cannot and will not accept” that some countries “are considering tightening the screws on US tech companies with international footprints.”

The vice president slammed the “onerous international rules,” and the fact that many US companies were “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.”

Vance also highlighted the difficulty for smaller firms to navigate the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which “means paying endless legal compliance costs or otherwise risking massive fines.”

“Now, for some, the easiest way to avoid the dilemma has been to simply block EU users in the first place, is this really the future that we want?” he asked.

He said creating a safe internet place for children was different from preventing “a grown man or woman from accessing an opinion that the government thinks is misinformation.”

Vance vowed that President Donald Trump’s administration “will ensure that AI systems developed in America are free from ideological bias and never restrict our citizens’ right to free speech.”

The vice president, in this context, also slammed “hostile foreign adversaries” that “weaponized AI software to rewrite history, surveil users and censor speech.”

“Some authoritarian regimes have stolen and used AI to strengthen their military intelligence and surveillance capabilities, capture foreign data, and create propaganda to undermine other nations’ national security. I want to be clear, this administration will block such efforts, full stop. We will safeguard American AI and chip technologies from theft and misuse,” Vance further vowed.

The US vice president also emphasized that AI would never “replace human beings” or workers, but would contribute to them being more “productive, more prosperous, and more free.”

“For all major AI policy decisions coming from the federal government, the Trump administration will guarantee American workers a seat at the table, and we're very proud of that,” Vance added.