VP Vance Kicks Off First Foreign Trip, Set to Speak at AI Summit in Paris

U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives to attend a State Dinner with world leaders and businessmen on the sideline of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit, at the Elysee palace in Paris, on Feb. 10, 2025. Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President JD Vance arrived in Paris on Monday, kicking off his first international trip since taking office.

Vance is set to deliver a speech Tuesday at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit, a major gathering of other world leaders, tech CEOs, and experts from more than 100 countries.

The vice president has suggested that he would use the summit to hold candid conversations with world leaders about AI and geopolitics.

“I think there’s a lot that some of the leaders who are present at the AI summit could do to, frankly—bring the Russia-Ukraine conflict to a close, help us diplomatically there—and so we’re going to be focused on those meetings in France,” Vance told Breitbart News.

In his first week in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting America’s standing as a global AI leader. In that order, Trump revoked a 2023 executive order signed by his predecessor former President Joe Biden that sought new standards for establishing AI safety and security, ensuring user privacy, and promoting equity and civil rights.

“The United States has long been at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, driven by the strength of our free markets, world-class research institutions, and entrepreneurial spirit,” according to the order. “To maintain this leadership, we must develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas. With the right Government policies, we can solidify our position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans.”

Policymakers at the AI summit so far have discussed the rapidly developing technology’s impact on global security, economics, and governance.

French President Emmanuel Macron during the summit acknowledged that regulation can stifle AI innovation.

“We will simplify,” Macron said. “It’s very clear we have to resynchronize with the rest of the world.”

The European Union’s digital chief Henna Virkkunen also pledged that the bloc will simplify its rules to allow AI to flourish.

The major summit comes amid fresh buzz surrounding the AI chatbot made by Chinese tech startup DeepSeek. The chatbot became the most downloaded app in the United States, triggering the same security concerns as the popular Chinese-owned video-sharing platform TikTok.

An Epoch Times examination of the app also found that it censored responses critical of the Chinese regime and promoted views favorable to it, closely aligning with the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Following the AI summit, Vance’s diplomatic tour will continue in Germany, where he will attend the Munich Security Conference and press European allies to increase their commitments to NATO and Ukraine.

Reuters contributed to this article.

From NTD News