Europe could be ‘one of leading AI continents,’ Von der Leyen says as JD Vance criticises EU’s ‘excessive’ regulation – Europe live | Europe

JD Vance’s speech at AI Action Summit in Paris – snap analysis

Dan Milmo

Global technology editor

This was very much the America First vision for AI. JD Vance’s speech at the Paris AI summit made clear that the Trump administration has no truck with the European approach to artificial intelligence and tech in general – or China’s.

In a wide-ranging and punchy address, the US vice-president started by throwing shade at the original summit held in the UK in 2023. That was badged the AI safety summit and Vance indicated that it was too cautious, referring to gatherings about cutting edge technology that can be “too self-conscious, too risk averse.”

Speaking in front of the head of the EU’s executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen, regulation was repeatedly criticised by Vance. The EU is leading the way in AI regulation with its AI act – and Vance made clear his discomfort with any legislation that could be construed as excessive. The EU’s digital services act – which covers social media – and the privacy-focused GDPR code also received passing criticism.

“We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry.”

He then added: “We need our European friends in particular to look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation.”

Speaking in front of the Chinese vice premier Zhang Guoqing there was a clear warning to other nations about co-operating with China. Warning that partnering with authoritarian regimes “never pays off”, he said: “Some of us in this room have learned from experience partnering with [authoritarian regimes] means chaining your nation to an authoritarian master that seeks to infiltrate, dig in and seize your information infrastructure. Should a deal seem too good to be true, just remember the old adage that we learned in Silicon Valley, if you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product.”

It was reported overnight that Vance left a leaders’ dinner in Paris on Monday as Guoqing praised trade and the UN. If he went out on his own last night, Vance certainly went out on his own this morning.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is now on stage, in conversation with American musician Pharrell Williams and Anne Bouverot, France’s special envoy for AI.

Pichai says that AI will “profoundly impact many areas,” giving AlphaFold as an example.

It used to take one person their entire PhD to do one protein and within three months, AlphaFold unlocked over 200 million protein structures. Now it’s an open database, and already we see hundreds of 1000s of researchers and biologists using it to develop vaccines, etc, so you can so tangibly feel the impact of progress.

He says he worries about “people who do not adopt it, countries which do not embrace it, and can get left behind through this crucial moment.”

He also talks about AI risks, highlighting the need to “think about image or video generation,” which can be used for both creative purposes and deepfakes, and so need standards to control them.

European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is up next on stage and the contrast between the two dynamic and the tone of the two speeches could not be bigger.

She says this is “the third summit on AI safety in just one year,” and yet “three new generations of ever more powerful AI models have been released in that time.”

She says she wants Europe to “be one of the leading AI continents,” and dismisses suggestions – including by Macron himself! – that “Europe is late to the race, while the US and China have already got ahead.”

“The AI race is far from over. Truth is, we are only at the beginning. The frontier is constantly moving, and global leadership is still up for grabs,” she says.

She says Europe wants its own “distinctive approach to AI,” focused on collaborative, open-source solutions.

She says the bloc “wants to replicate the success story of the CERN laboratory in Geneva,” with AI Gigafactories used to help and train very large models.

“We provide the infrastructure for large computational power. Researchers, entrepreneurs and investors will be able to join forces,” she says.

She ends by pledging additional €50bn for AI investment in the EU, bringing the total to €200bn.

Very notably, she does not respond to many of Vance’s criticisms of the EU and sticks to her speech.

Vance closes his speech with a reference to French military officer Marquis de Lafayette, who served during the American War of Independence.

He says he was given a chance to hold his sword during his tour of Paris last night, and it made him think about France, the US, and “the beautiful civilisation that we have build together.”

He says that sabres “are dangerous in the wrong hands, but are incredible tools for liberty and prosperity in right hands.”

He adds that “if we choose the wrong approach on other things that could be conceived of as dangerous, things like AI, and choose to hold ourselves back, it will alter not only our GDP or the stock market, but the very future of the project that Lafayette and the American founders set off to create.”

“This does not mean that all concerns about safety go out the window, but focus matters, and we must focus now on the opportunity to catch lightning in a bottle,” he says.

With great confidence, I can say it is an opportunity that the Trump administration will not squander, and we hope everyone convened here today feels exactly the same.

And that’s it.

He then turns back to the issue of protecting workers, saying the “Trump administration will guarantee American workers a seat at the table” when discussing how AI will change our societies.

Continuing his speech, Vance now turns to “hostile foreign adversaries” who he says “have weaponised AI software to rewrite history, surveil users, and censor speech.”

He says the Trump administration “will block such efforts full stop,” and safeguard US technologies from “theft and misuse.”

In a passage likely to be read in the context of China, he says:

I would also remind our international friends here today that partnering with such regimes, it never pays off in the long term, from CCTV to 5G equipment, we’re all familiar with cheap tech in the marketplace that’s been heavily subsidised and exported by authoritarian regimes.

But as I know, and I think some of us in this room have learned from experience, partnering with them means chaining your nation to an authoritarian master that seeks to infiltrate, dig in and seize your information infrastructure.

Should a deal seem too good to be true, just remember the old adage that we learned in Silicon Valley: if you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product.

Vance briefly focuses on energy, saying “AI cannot take off unless the world builds the energy infrastructure to support it.”

But he then returns to the theme of regulation:

We face the extraordinary prospect of a new Industrial Revolution, one on par with the invention of the steam engine or Bessemer steel, but it will never come to pass if over regulation deters innovators from taking the risks necessary to advance the ball. Nor will it occur if we allow AI to become dominated by massive players looking to use the tech to censor or control users thoughts. …

Who is most aggressively demanding that we, meaning political leaders gathered here today, do the most aggressive regulation? It is very often the people who already have an incumbent advantage in the market.

He turns to examples of what he calls “ahistorical social agendas” replicated through AI in the last few years, and says “the Trump administration will ensure that AI systems developed in America are free from ideological bias and never restrict our citizens right to free speech.”

He continues:

The US innovators of all sizes already know what it’s like to deal with onerous international rules. Many of our most productive tech companies are forced to deal with the EU’s Digital Services Act and the massive regulations it created about taking down content and policing so called misinformation.

And of course, we want to ensure the Internet is a safe place, but it is one thing to prevent a predator from preying on a child on the internet, and it is something quite different to preventing a grown man or woman from accessing an opinion that the government thinks is misinformation.

He then turns on to the EU’s data protection rules, the GDPR:

Meanwhile, for smaller firms, navigating the GDPR means paying endless legal compliance costs or otherwise risking massive fines. Now, for some the easiest way to avoid the dilemma has been to simply block EU users in the first place. Is this really the future that we want?

In a stark segment of his speech, JD Vance repeatedly criticises EU regulation of AI and technology.

He says:

America wants to partner with all of you. We want to embark on the AI revolution before us with the spirit of openness and collaboration.

But to create that kind of trust, we need international regulatory regimes that fosters the creation of AI technology rather than strangles it, and we need our European friends in particular, to look to this new frontier with optimism, rather than trepidation.

He picks up Trump’s comments on potential enforcement against US Big Tech companies and says “America cannot and will not accept that.”

However, the Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are considering tightening the screws on US tech companies with international footprints.

America cannot and will not accept that, and we think it’s a terrible mistake, not just for the United States of America, but for your own countries.

Vance also says that AI models should be kept free of “ideological bias,” warning that that “American AI will not be co opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.”

He also says that the US administration will keep a pro-worker focus when looking at the roll out of technology.