The Reverberations of J.D. Vance’s Landmark AI Speech
By Paul Steidler: On February 10, Vice President J.D. Vance gave a major speech on AI to world leaders and tech luminaires that is likely to go down in importance with President Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice University calling on the U.S. to send a man to the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade.
In fact, Vance’s speech may be far more important. It is critical that the U.S. continues to be the world leader in AI so that the 21st century is another American century, with the United States leading the world economically and militarily.
Vance’s speech hit the reset button on the U.S.-European Union (EU) tech relationship, causing many in the audience to squirm. The Vice President made abundantly clear that as the world’s AI leader we will not accept any foreign dictates on how AI is developed, particularly requirements that might impair free speech or contain ideological bias.
As the Vice President said, America already has the “gold standard” for AI development. Given this, the U.S. is and will continue to be far more focused on unleashing AI opportunities than handwringing over AI safety risks.
Of note, the Vice President said, “We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off, and we will make every effort to encourage pro-growth AI policies … AI must remain free from ideological bias, and American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.”
The U.S. is attracting massive AI investments and is glad to work with other countries. At the same time, EU attacks on American tech companies with arbitrary regulations and fines will not be tolerated. The Vice President left no doubt about that saying, “The Trump Administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are considering tightening the screws on U.S. tech companies with international footprints. America cannot and will not accept that, and we think it’s a terrible mistake, not just for the United States, but for your own countries.”
The time is now to seize on the promise of AI. Indeed, it is an opportunity the American people and the Trump Administration must not squander and seize upon for the benefit of all. And that is an essential lesson for Europe and America to know and take to heart.