US Vice-President JD Vance has used his first foreign trip in office to criticise the European Union’s AI regulations, warning that excessive oversight could hinder innovation.
Speaking on the final day of the Paris AI Summit on February 11, Vance condemned what he described as foreign governments “tightening the screws” on US tech firms.
His remarks, delivered in front of a visibly stunned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted what seemed a growing divide between Washington and Brussels.
“The Trump administration is aware that some foreign governments are considering tightening the screws on US tech companies with an international footprint. America cannot and will not accept that,” Vance declared.
During his keynote speech, he highlighted the regulation faced by US companies when engaging with the European market and expressed discontent with EU GDPR (data privacy) laws.
While acknowledging the need for a safe internet and child protection online, he berated what he called censorship disguised as regulation.
“Protecting a child from an online predator is one thing. Preventing an adult from accessing an opinion deemed ‘disinformation’ by the government is another,” he said.
Vance also attacked foreign actors, accusing them of weaponising AI for mass surveillance, historical revisionism and speech suppression. “I want to be clear: this administration will block such efforts, full stop,” he said.
While the EU has pushed for strict oversight and public funding, China has been expanding state-backed AI and the US has remained committed to a free-market approach.
In her speech, Von der Leyen praised the need for regulation.
“AI needs competition, but AI also needs collaboration, and AI needs the confidence of the people and has to be safe,” she said, highlighting the EU’s stance on regulation.
The US refused to sign the AI Summit Declaration, which emphasised AI governance principles such as transparency, ethics and sustainability.
According to report from French commercial television network TF1 journalist Paul Laroutoutou, Vance left before Von der Leyen’s speech and that of French President or Emmanuel Macron’s, seemingly underscoring the widening transatlantic split.
