PARIS: US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday (Feb 11) warned European allies against over-regulating the US-dominated artificial intelligence sector and China against using the technology to tighten its grip on citizens and allies.
Speaking at a global AI summit aimed at finding common ground on the emergence of a technology set to shake up global business and society, Vance struck a more confrontational tone than other leaders in the room.
“Excessive regulation … 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.
“We need international regulatory regimes that fosters the creation of AI technology rather than strangles it,” he added, calling on Europe to show “optimism rather than trepidation”.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, co-hosting with French President Emmanuel Macron, had minutes earlier called for “collective, global efforts to establish governance and standards that uphold our shared values, address risks and build trust”.
Future AI would need to be “free from biases” and “address concerns related to cybersecurity, disinformation and deepfakes” to benefit all, he added.
Vance, by contrast, said it was not up to national capitals to “prevent a grown man or woman from accessing an opinion that the government thinks is misinformation”.
The US vice president also took a thinly veiled shot at China, saying “authoritarian regimes” were looking to use AI for increased control of citizens at home and 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.
Chinese startup DeepSeek rattled the AI sector last month by unveiling a sophisticated chatbot that it claims was developed on a relatively low budget. A growing number of countries have taken steps to block the app from government devices over security concerns.
Vance also pointed to “cheap tech … heavily subsidised and exported by authoritarian regimes”, referring to surveillance cameras and 5G mobile internet equipment widely sold abroad by China.
HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS LINED UP
President Donald Trump’s deputy left the venue immediately after his speech as other speakers including European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Google boss Sundar Pichai took the stage.
Von der Leyen said Brussels would push to mobilise 200 billion euros (US$206 billion) for AI investments in Europe, with 50 billion euros to come from the EU’s budget and the rest from “providers, investors and industry”.
Following Macron’s trumpeting Monday of 109 billion euros of investment into French AI projects and the $500-billion US “Stargate” programme led by developer OpenAI, the vast figure underscored the resources needed to compete on catching the next technological wave.
Overnight, the Wall Street Journal reported a near-US$100 billion bid to buy ChatGPT maker OpenAI from a consortium headed by Elon Musk.
If successful, the deal would compound the tech influence of the world’s richest man, already the boss of X, Tesla, SpaceX and his own AI developer xAI as well as a Trump confidant.
Sam Altman, the OpenAI chief set to speak in Paris later Tuesday, responded to the reported offer with a dry “no thank you” on X.
Vance did not comment directly on the prospective deal.
