PARIS (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday warned global leaders and tech industry executives that “excessive regulation” could cripple the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry in a rebuke to European efforts to curb AI’s risks.

The speech underscored a widening, three-way rift over the future of the technology.

The United States, under President Donald Trump, champions a hands-off approach to fuel innovation, while Europe is tightening the reins with strict regulations to ensure safety and accountability. Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding AI through state-backed tech giants, vying for dominance in the global race.

The U.S. was noticeably absent from an international document signed by more than 60 nations, including China, making the Trump Administration the glaring outlier in a global pledge to promote responsible AI development.

Vance’s debut

At the summit, Vance made his first major policy speech since becoming vice president last month, framing AI as an economic turning point but cautioning that “at this moment, we face the extraordinary prospect of a new industrial revolution, one on par with the invention of the steam engine.”

“But it will never come to pass if overregulation deters innovators from taking the risks necessary to advance the ball,” Vance added.

The 40-year-old vice president, leveraging the AI summit and a security conference in Munich later this week, is seeking to project Trump’s forceful new style of diplomacy.

The Trump administration will “ensure that AI systems developed in America are free from ideological bias,” Vance said and pledged the U.S. would “never restrict our citizens’ right to free speech.”

A global AI pledge—and the U.S. absence

The international document, signed by scores of countries, including European nations, pledged to “promote AI accessibility to reduce digital divides” and “ensure AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure, and trustworthy.” It also called for “making AI sustainable for people and the planet” and protecting “human rights, gender equality, linguistic diversity, consumer rights, and intellectual property.”

In a surprise move, China — long criticized for its human rights record — signed the declaration, further widening the distance between America and the rest in the tussle for AI supremacy.

The agreement comes as the EU enforces its AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive AI law, which took effect in August 2024.

A growing divide

Vance also took aim at foreign governments for “tightening the screws” on U.S. tech firms, saying such moves were troubling. His remarks underscored the growing divide between Washington and its European allies on AI governance.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that, “AI needs the confidence of the people and has to be safe″ and detailed EU guidelines intended to standardize the bloc’s AI Act but acknowledged concerns over regulatory burden.

“At the same time, I know that we have to make it easier and we have to cut red tape and we will,” she added.

She also announced that the “InvestAI” initiative had reached a total of €200 billion in AI investments across Europe, including €20 billion dedicated to AI gigafactories.

A race for AI dominance

The summit laid bare competing global AI strategies — Europe pushing to regulate and invest, China expanding AI through state-backed giants, and the U.S. doubling down on an unregulated, free-market approach.

French President Emmanuel Macron positioned Europe as a “third way” in the AI race, one that avoids dependence on major powers like the U.S. and China.

“We want a fair and open access to these innovations for the whole planet,” he said in his closing speech, arguing that the AI sector “needs rules” on a global scale to build public trust and urging greater “international governance.”

Macron also hailed newly announced investments in France and across Europe, underscoring the continent’s ambitions in AI. “We’re in the race,” he said.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, special envoy of Xi Jinping, reinforced Beijing’s intent to shape global AI standards.

Vance, a vocal critic of European content moderation policies, has suggested the U.S. should reconsider its NATO commitments if European governments impose restrictions on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. His Paris visit was also expected to include candid discussions on Ukraine, AI’s role in global power shifts, and U.S.-China tensions.

How to regulate AI?

Concerns over AI’s potential dangers have loomed over the summit, particularly as nations grapple with how to regulate a technology that is increasingly entwined with defense and warfare.

“I think one day we will have to find ways to control AI or else we will lose control of everything,” said Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO’s commander who oversees the alliance’s modernization efforts.

Beyond diplomatic tensions, a global public-private partnership is being launched called “Current AI,” aimed at supporting large-scale AI initiatives for the public good.

Analysts see this as an opportunity to counterbalance the dominance of private companies in AI development. However, it remains unclear whether the U.S. will support such efforts.

Separately, a high-stakes battle over AI power is escalating in the private sector.

A group of investors led by Musk — who now heads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — has made a $97.4 billion bid to acquire the nonprofit behind OpenAI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, attending the Paris summit, swiftly rejected the offer on X.

The US-China rivalry

In Beijing, officials on Monday condemned Western efforts to restrict access to AI tools, while Chinese company DeepSeek’s new AI chatbot has prompted calls in the U.S. Congress to limit its use over security concerns. China promotes open-source AI, arguing that accessibility will ensure global AI benefits.

French organizers hope the summit will boost investment in Europe’s AI sector, positioning the region as a credible contender in an industry shaped by U.S.-China competition.

French President Emmanuel Macron, addressing the energy demands of AI, contrasted France’s nuclear-powered approach with the U.S.‘s reliance on fossil fuels, quipping: France won’t “drill, baby, drill,” but “plug, baby, plug.”

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Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet and Kelvin Chan in Paris contributed to this report.