Vice President Vance: Strict Regulations Can Kill AI In Europe

JAKARTA - US Vice President JD Vance told European countries on Tuesday 11 February that their "massive" regulation against artificial intelligence (AI) could kill the technology, and reject content moderation as an "orientitarian censor".

In a sign of differences over AI governance, the United States and Britain did not sign a final statement from the AI summit held in France on "Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence", without providing clear reasons.

The atmosphere about AI has shifted as this technology expands, from concerns about safety to geopolitical competition, as countries compete to create the next AI giants.

Vance, who represents the Donald Trump administration's "America First" agenda, said the United States intends to remain the dominant force in AI and firmly opposes a much stricter EU regulatory approach.

"We believe that excessive regulations against the AI sector could kill the game-changing industry," Vance told CEOs and heads of state at the summit held in Paris.

"We firmly believe that AI should remain free from ideological bias and America's AI will not be used as a tool for authoritarian censorship," he added.

Vance criticized the "massive regulation" made by the European Union's Digital Services Act, as well as European online privacy rules, known as the GDPR acronym, which he said led to endless legal compliance costs for small companies.

"Of course, we want to make sure the internet is a safe place, but there is a difference between preventing a predator from utilizing a child on the internet, and preventing an adult man or woman from accessing opinions that the government considers misinformation," he said.

Last year, European lawmakers approved the European Union AI Act, which is the world's first comprehensive set of rules to regulate this technology. Vance led the American delegation at the Paris summit.

Warning to China

Vance also seems to point out his criticism of China at a time sensitive to the US technology sector. Last month, China's start-up, DeepSeek, distributed a powerful AI-thinking model that it said challenged US technology leadership. This caused American chip designer Nvidia's stock to fall 17%.

"Starting from CCTV to 5G equipment, we are all familiar with cheap technology marketed in large subsidies by authoritarian regimes," Vance said. "But partnering with them means linking your country to authoritarian hosts who are trying to infiltrate, dig, and seize your information infrastructure," he added.

Vance did not mention DeepSek directly. Although there is no evidence that information can be secretly channeled through the company's technology to the Chinese government, several government organizations have reportedly banned the use of DeepSek.

EU Will Reduce Bureaucratics

Speaking after Vance, French President Emmanuel Macron, said he supports the reduction of the bureaucracy, but stressed that regulations are needed to ensure trust in AI, or people will reject it. "We need reliable AI," he said.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also said that the European Union would reduce bureaucracy and invest more in AI.Vance and von der Leyen are also likely to discuss a significant increase in Trump's rates on steel.

The United States and Britain did not immediately provide an explanation as to why they did not sign the AI summit declaration, although dozens of other countries, including China, have signed it.

British Prime Minister spokesman Keir Starmer told reporters the discussions were still ongoing, and Britain would join other initiatives and continue to work with their partners.

"Obviously from JD Vance's speech, US policy is now experiencing a firm change," said Russell Wald, executive director at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence. "Security is no longer the main focus, but accelerated innovation and the belief that this technology is an opportunity, and safety means regulation, regulation means losing that opportunity."

The tech world has been monitoring whether Trump's administration will relax its recent enforcement of antitrust that has caused the US to sue or investigate the industry's biggest players. Vance said that the US would support AI America, developed by large companies, but added, "Our law will ensure all developers, both Big Tech and Little Tech, are on the same footing."