US Vice President Vance used the AI Action Summit in Paris to portray the US as the ultimate leader in the field. Those who wish to follow are welcome to do so, but those who wish to regulate must bear the consequences.
At the AI Action Summit in Paris, U.S. Vice President JD Vance highlighted his country as an aggressive leader who wants to dominate the AI field at all costs. In that vision, regulation has no place. The EU gets a warning: the Union is invited to follow the U.S. as a second-tier partner, or may side with totalitarian regimes.
“The Trump administration will ensure that the most powerful AI systems are built in the US,” he said. “With American designs and American chips.” Vance is referring to project Stargate, in which the US wants to invest $500 billion in AI development.
Hand holding a leash
“Just because we are the leader doesn’t mean we have to do everything alone,” Vance added. That statement seemed intended as a sort of outstretched hand, although that hand did conceal a leash: if the EU wants to join the U.S., the union must also listen to the U.S.
Regulation is the bogeyman. Vance and the U.S. want it to be scrapped in a big way. Disinformation does not exist, according to Vance, even though a lack of regulation in his country allows foreign powers such as Russia to spread propaganda easily.
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Nor do Vance and the Trump administration care about safe or ethical AI, implying that the EU should not uphold those values either. “The AI future will not be won by hand-wringing about safety,” he argues. Vance literally adds that the AI challenge should not be approached with any self-awareness or aversion to risk.
Winners and losers
Trump and his entourage have chosen since the real estate mogul’s first term to view all policy in a zero sum context, where winning always implies someone else loses or vice versa. Constructive cooperation, where one and one becomes three, are out of the question. The US must win, which implies that others must lose, regardless of the consequences.
The AI future will not be won by hand-wringing about safety
JD Vance, Vice President USA
Vance warns that foreign powers are using AI as a weapon to rewrite history, spy on people and censor free speech. This is a clear reference from China that yet also carries a certain irony: after all, the U.S. is forging a similar path under Trump.
Moreover, the president is actively building down mechanisms to arm the US against campaigns of disinformation from those foreign powers. A logical conclusion might be that regulation is needed to block the use of AI for rogue purposes, but Vance himself does not share that insight and offered no alternative solution.
Opening salvo toward DMA and DSA
Although Vance focused on AI during his speech, it is not hard to see a shot across the bow from the EU on other regulation. As a response to the total lack of regulatory framework in the U.S., the European Union has built its own rules. Consider the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DSA and DMA place responsibilities on large (and consequently mostly U.S.) companies. These must not abuse their monopoly position, and are responsible for ensuring that their platforms do not become megaphones for fake news and destabilizing propaganda.
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Not only the AI Act, but also the DSA and the DMA are a thorn in Trump and Vance’s side. The big tech billionaires including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Elon Musk of X do not want to abide by European rules at all. They have bought Trump’s ear with large money contributions, and won his heart by ditching diversity programs in their own companies. Not surprisingly, the U.S. government is now coming to fight the EU on behalf of the tech giants.
Dominant attitude
In any case, Vance’s passage at the AI Action Summit does not go unnoticed. Vance shows himself to be the mouthpiece of an American government that puts itself first, with no room for introspection. Equal partners do not exist, only followers. The US must win at all costs in a contest called by Trump himself, and European values such as security, diversity and accessibility stand in the way.
After his speech, Vance left the summit. Answers or insights from European and Asian leaders did not interest him.
The EU realizes that it has fallen behind, and wants to make up for it without renouncing its own values. At least that is the ambition. An additional investment of 200 billion euros should help in this regard. The EU wants to develop open AI in a responsible way: a plan that has little support in the US.