PARIS: US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday warned European countries against over-regulating social media and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, arguing that stringent controls could stifle innovation and harm both the United States and Europe.
“The Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are considering tightening the screws on US tech companies with international footprints,” he said while speaking to world leaders and tech executives at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, France.
He said ‘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.’
“Let me be emphatic about this point, America wants to partner with all of you and we want to embark on the AI revolution with a spirit of openness and collaboration,” Vance said.
He added that to create that kind of trust, ‘we need international regulatory regimes that foster the creation of AI technology rather than strangle it.’
“We need our European friends in particular to look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation,” he noted.
The US Vice President said that the Trump administration will work to make the US the gold standard worldwide for artificial intelligence.
In a further sign of differing approaches to AI governance, the United States and the United Kingdom chose not to endorse the final statement of a French-hosted AI summit, which called for AI to be inclusive, open, ethical, and safe.
As AI technology takes root, the conversation has shifted from safety concerns to geopolitical rivalry, with countries competing to develop the next major AI leader.
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Setting out the Trump administration’s America First agenda, Vance stated that the United States aims to maintain its dominance in AI and strongly opposed the European Union’s more stringent regulatory stance.
“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 viewed.
The Digital Services Act aims to increase accountability for platforms in protecting European users from harmful or illegal content, with penalties for those who fail to comply. Last July, the EU found that the social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency and a Trump ally, did not meet the Act’s transparency or accountability standards.
