Addressing world leaders in Paris on Feb. 11, Vice President JD Vance vowed the United States would remain a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and would reject ideological bias and global attempts to regulate the emerging technology.
“I’m not here this morning to talk about AI safety, which was the title of this conference a couple of years ago. I’m here to talk about AI opportunity,” Vance said as he began his remarks before the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit.
Vance said it’s the view of the Trump administration that efforts to regulate AI would primarily benefit established developers while “paralyzing one of the most promising technologies we have seen in generations.”
The vice president proceeded to lay out four guiding principles of how the Trump administration views and approaches AI: That the United States will be a global leader in AI development; that excessive regulation could hinder the industry; that AI must be free from ideological bias and censorship; and that the administration would favor integrating AI into the workforce to increase productivity but not replace human workers.
Many global leaders are seeking frameworks to control AI’s uses and applications.
Among the prohibited applications described under the EU law are the use of AI for assessing the risks of certain individuals committing crimes; inferring a person’s group affiliations, religious and political views, and sex life or sexual orientation for non-law enforcement purposes; and social scoring individuals or groups based on their behavior or personal traits.
The declaration—which the United States and the UK have not signed—calls for its signatories to affirm support for AI development that’s “open to all, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy, in compliance with international frameworks.”
Though the United States hasn’t signed onto the summit declaration, Vance said the United States remains open to international collaboration to advance AI technology.
“America wants to partner with all of you, and we want to embark on the AI revolution before us with the spirit of openness and collaboration,” he said.
“But to create that kind of trust, we need international regulatory regimes that foster the creation of AI technology rather than strangle it.”
Vance said a more relaxed regulatory framework has allowed U.S. developers to experiment and invest heavily in researching and developing AI technology.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said its decision not to sign onto the Paris Declaration is separate from that of the Trump administration.
“This is about our own national interest, ensuring the balance between opportunity and security,” a Starmer spokesperson said.
In her own remarks at the summit on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for AI safety and consumer confidence without too much regulatory burden.
She argued the EU’s AI Act balances these too concerns by providing a single regulatory framework for the various EU member states.
“I know that we have to make it easier and we have to cut red tape, and we will,” she said.
China is looking to maintain strict regulatory controls at home while promoting open-source AI abroad.
While addressing the AI summit, Zhang Guoqing, China’s vice leader, said China wants to help set global AI development and safeguards.
Australia, Canada, and Taiwan have already taken steps to block access to the Chinese AI model, as have some U.S. states.
In remarks to summit attendees on Feb. 10, French President Emmanuel Macron called on European investors to look to their own continent as an alternative to the United States and China.
Von der Leyen also announced a new AI investment initiative, starting with an initial 50 billion euros (about $51.5 billion), and a goal “to mobilize a total of 200 billion euros for AI investments in Europe.”
