US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday, February 11, warned against "excessive regulation" of artificial intelligence at a Paris summit on the technology, warning both European allies and rivals like China against tightening governments' grip.
"Excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative sector just as it's taking off," Vance told global leaders and tech industry chiefs in the opulent surroundings of the French capital's Grand Palais.
In his first foreign trip as vice president, Vance also said the Trump administration will "ensure that AI systems developed in America are free from ideological bias," and that the United States would "never restrict our citizens' right to free speech."
“Now, at this moment, we face the extraordinary prospect of a new industrial revolution, one on par with the invention of the steam engine,'' Vance said. ‘’But it will never come to pass. If overregulation deters innovators from taking the risks necessary to advance the ball.''
Vance's address challenged Europe's regulatory approach to artificial intelligence and its moderation of content on Big Tech platforms, underscoring divergence between the US and its allies on AI governance.
He singled out the European Union's Digital Services Act by name for criticism over "massive regulations it created about taking down content and policing so-called misinformation" that he said placed an unfair burden on American tech giants. Vance also jabbed at China as one of several "authoritarian regimes" he said were looking to use AI for increased control of citizens at home and other countries abroad.
"Partnering with them means chaining your nation to an authoritarian master that seeks to infiltrate, dig in and seize your information infrastructure," Vance said. He pointed to "cheap tech (...) heavily subsidized and exported by authoritarian regimes," referring to surveillance cameras and 5G mobile internet equipment widely sold abroad by China.