March 27, 2025
PARIS (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday warned global leaders and tech industry executives that “excessive regulation” could cripple the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry in a rebuke to European efforts to curb AI’s risks.
The speech underscored a widening, three-way rift over the future of the technology.
The United States, under President Donald Trump, champions a hands-off approach to fuel innovation, while Europe is tightening the reins with strict regulations. Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding AI through state-backed tech giants, vying for dominance in the global race.
The U.S. was noticeably absent from an international document signed by more than 60 nations, including China, making the Trump Administration the glaring outlier in a global pledge to promote responsible AI development.
At the summit, Vance made his first major policy speech since becoming vice president last month, framing AI as an economic turning point but cautioning that “at this moment, we face the extraordinary prospect of a new industrial revolution, one on par with the invention of the steam engine."
"But it will never come to pass if overregulation deters innovators from taking the risks necessary to advance the ball,” Vance added.
The Trump administration will “ensure that AI systems developed in America are free from ideological bias,” Vance said, and pledged the U.S. would “never restrict our citizens’ right to free speech.”
The international document, signed by scores of countries, including European nations, pledged to “promote AI accessibility to reduce digital divides” and “ensure AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure, and trustworthy.” It also called for “making AI sustainable for people and the planet” and protecting “human rights, gender equality, linguistic diversity, consumer rights, and intellectual property.”
In a surprise move, China — long criticized for its human rights record — signed the declaration, further widening the distance between America and the rest in the tussle for AI supremacy.
The agreement comes as the EU enforces its AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive AI law, which took effect in August 2024.
Vance also took aim at foreign governments for “tightening the screws” on U.S. tech firms, saying such moves were troubling. His remarks underscored the growing divide between Washington and its European allies on AI governance.
The summit laid bare competing global AI strategies — Europe pushing to regulate and invest, China expanding AI through state-backed giants, and the U.S. doubling down on a free-market approach.
Vance, a vocal critic of European content moderation policies, has suggested the U.S. should reconsider its NATO commitments if European governments impose restrictions on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. His Paris visit was also expected to include candid discussions on Ukraine, AI’s role in global power shifts, and U.S.-China tensions.
