Vice President JD Vance told European and Asian leaders in Paris on Tuesday that the Trump administration is adopting an offensive American first approach to dominate all building blocks of artificial intelligence, European He warned people to dismantle regulations and ride in Washington.
On his first foreign trip since taking office, Vance used his opening address at the AI Summit conference hosted by France and India to describe his vision for the upcoming era of American technological domination. Europe said it would be forced to choose between using technology designed and manufactured by the US or siding with authoritarian competitors (a too-big reference to China).
“The Trump administration ensures that the most powerful AI systems will be built in the US using American designed and manufactured chips,” he quickly added. By yourself. “
However, he said that in order for Europe to become what it clearly envisions as a junior partner, much of the digital regulatory structure must be eliminated. And we must eliminate many of the internet police for what the government defines as disinformation.
For Vance, a week-long tour that takes him next to the Munich Security Conference, next to the best meetings of European leaders, foreign and defense ministers, the speech was clearly intended as a warning shot. . It nearly silenced the hall on the wings of Grand Palais in the heart of Paris. Leaders used to talking about the new artificial intelligence applications “guardrail” and “equity” “guardrail” are available and comfortable for unserved groups who have not heard any of Vance's phrases. I guaranteed that it was.
He spoke hours after President Trump put in the new 25% tariffs on foreign steel, essentially denying trade deals with Europe and other regions. Vance's speech was accurately structured and delivered with emphasis, and seemed like an indicator of the plans Trump's national security leader would bring to Europe this week.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegses talks about Ukraine with European leaders on Wednesday, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in Munich when a meeting is held over the weekend. That session could be dominated by competing American and European views on how to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine.
With a brief background in Silicon Valley and venture capital, Vance is the image of a new generation of Republicans who have been immersed in Trump's first ideology. After Vance left the hall without staying to hear about the European response, the US and the UK refused to sign the summit communica.
Vance began his speech with a direct reference to the AI Safety Summit held at Bletchley Park, the UK's grand estate where codebreakers cracked Germany's Enigma Code in World War II. The meeting ended with a disastrous warning that “even serious and devastating harm, not intentional or intentional, due to the most important capabilities of these AI models.” 28 countries, including the United States, vowed to “work in a comprehensive way to ensure anthropocentric, reliable and responsible AI.”
Mr. Vance did not leave his path to separate himself from the speech given by the summit and his predecessor, Kamala Harris. “I'm not here this morning to talk about AI safety,” he said. “I'm here to talk about AI opportunities,” he warns that America's response to AI challenges is no longer “self-awareness” or “risk aversion.”
“The future of AI will not win by wrapping hands around safety,” he said.
At the moment Trump is disbanding government commissions and units that are pushing many people from Russia, China and Iran, Vance says that American tech companies still deal with “large regulations” in Europe. He claimed that it was.
He did not suggest discarding all such rules, but “preventing predators from preying on children on the Internet is one thing, and the government thinks that adult men and women are. Preventing access to opinions is completely different. Misinformation.
Of course, in Washington, that's what many federal employees do. He orders all references (diversity, fairness, inclusion) to DEIs stripped from government websites, prohibiting government employees from entering personal pronouns of their preferences .
At the same time, Vance warned that “hostile foreign enemies have weaponized AI software to rewrite history, surveillance users and censorship speeches.” However, he did not explain how to monitor or improve the issue.
European officials knew roughly what would come, even if they didn't know Mr Vance was so dull. On the first day of the conference, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the need to simplify regulations in Europe. He has announced more than $100 billion in private investment in France in AI technologies and the power to generate them. It's a big figure for France, but it's just a small portion of what the private sector spends on the US, something China, its state-owned and startups committed.
Vance has reached the centre of a central conflict that is likely to expand next year. The European Union regulates high-tech companies far more vigorously than the US.
The Block's Digital Services Act, passed in 2022, aims to fight misinformation, actively enforce police on social media companies, and ease the platform for illegal content. The Digital Markets Act, passed in 2022, provides European regulators with broader authority to enforce business practices, prevent user boxing and promote more competition. I will.
Europe also calls for it to be at the forefront of regulating AI by pushing for increasing the level of surveillance and trying to limit the use of technology. However, as the US and China are ahead of the line in AI development, Macron has urged Europe to ease innovation and prioritize regulations.
Brussels regulators are targeting US tech companies with multiple investigations and fines. Apple and Google face billions of fines for issues such as outstanding taxes and prioritized treatment in search results. Meta has been accused of violating European competition rules and inadequate safeguards to combat election disinformation. Last month, regulators began an investigation into X's expansion of illegal content.
The US claims that European approaches unfairly target American tech Titans. Meta head Mark Zuckerberg has called on Trump to defend US tech companies from what he called “censorship” in Europe and demand that the European Union stop their fines I did.
“We're going to work with President Trump to push back governments around the world that are opposed to American businesses,” Zuckerberg said last month shortly after Meta announced it was closing its fact-checking program.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke shortly after Vance on Tuesday, but did not stand strong against his predecessor who had already left the room. Reflecting Macron, she herself said, “We need to cut the red tape because we have to make it easier.
“Too often, I hear that Europe is behind the race and that the US and China are already moving forward,” she said. “I disagree. The AI race is far from over.” von der Leyen said Europe is aiming to invest $200 billion in AI in the coming years.
However, she also defended the European Union's regulatory approach, saying that “separate European brands” focusing on “complex applications” are collaborative and that the underlying software is widely shared. It suggested that there is a “clear brand of AI” that embraced the open source approach that means.
“Yes, AI needs competition,” she said. “But AI also needs collaboration. And AI needs people's confidence and must be safe.”
Liz Alderman and Aurelien Breeden contributed to reporting from the AI Summit in Paris.
