Vance calls for more open AI policy at Paris summit

Vice President JD Vance took the stage Tuesday during the Paris AI Summit — an event hosting a group of foreign leaders — to underscore the Trump administration’s pro-industry stance on artificial intelligence regulations and policy, while striving to include the U.S. labor force.

Vance highlighted priorities for shaping the U.S. AI landscape, focusing on four pillars: mitigating human worker displacement; avoiding an executive regulatory regime to encourage innovation; working with allied nations in advancing AI technology and standards; and ensuring AI is free from any ideological biases.

“The Trump administration believes that AI will have countless revolutionary applications and economic innovation, job creation, national security, healthcare, free expression and beyond, and to restrict its development now will not only unfairly benefit incumbents in the space, it would mean paralyzing one of the most promising technologies we have seen in generations,” Vance said.

He added that the deregulatory component of the Trump administration’s AI posture will be present in conversations with other leaders during the Paris AI Summit, such as doubling down on the U.S. desire to partner with foreign allies while also maintaining a preference for lighter-touch regulatory frameworks.

“We want to embark on the AI revolution before us with the spirit of openness and collaboration,” Vance said. “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.”

The vice president's remarks foreshadow the contrasting approach the Trump administration intends to take on AI policy compared to the European Union, whose landmark EU AI Act places stringent oversight and regulation on new AI technologies developed and deployed within member countries. 

He said the Trump administration is “troubled” by reports of foreign governments continuing to scrutinize U.S. tech companies operating internationally, saying that “America cannot and will not accept that.”

“We think it's a terrible mistake, not just for the United States of America, but for your own countries,” Vance said. 

Beyond ensuring innovation in AI systems can thrive, Vance reiterated the Trump administration’s stance when it comes to protecting U.S. intellectual property from being leveraged by foreign adversaries for authoritarian governance practices. 

Industry analysts appear divided over Vance’s address. Resident Senior Fellow Adam Thierer at the R Street Institute noted that Vance’s speech struck tones of optimism over AI’s potential rather than pessimism. 

“This was a significant departure from past AI summits, where the tone and resulting recommendations were pessimistic and foreboding,” Thierer wrote in a statement. “Vance’s remarks in Paris made it clear that the U.S. government wanted no part of those efforts.”

Rather, Thierer said, the Trump administration is fixated on “pro-U.S., future-embracing, entrepreneurialism-focused, permissionless innovation-oriented vision for AI and digital technology” — and is looking for allies to adopt the same perspective. 

Alternatively, some industry analysts maintained that safety protocols and regulations focused on consumer protections will help the Trump administration achieve its goal to have AI enable healthy communities.

“The Vice President emphasized that AI can improve our well-being as nations and as individuals,” CDT President & CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens said in a statement sent to Nextgov/FCW. “That’s simply not possible without basic safeguards and accountability. When AI is being used to determine who gets a job, who gets a loan, who gets access to government services, the stakes are too high to shrug off the risks.”

Reeve Givens also said that Vance’s comments felt “out of touch” with end users who rely on AI tools for various professional and personal needs. 

“The Vice President’s caricature of regulation felt out of touch with the needs of businesses and users who will use and rely on these tools,” she said.

Thierer contended, however, that the pro-regulatory model the EU has employed has hindered AI industry growth and investment. 

“[Vance's remarks] will hopefully encourage [Europe] to race alongside us and ensure that AI reaches its full potential as China and other nations look to advance their own algorithmic capabilities, but with very different goals in mind,” he wrote.