Major technology companies are urging the administration of President Donald Trump to ease regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) development, asserting that doing so is essential to maintaining a competitive edge over China and ensuring the U.S. remains a leader in AI innovation.
As generative AI advanced rapidly, governments initially scrambled to create regulatory frameworks. Major tech firms, however, quickly integrated AI into their products, prompting the Trump administration to prioritize accelerating AI development, often setting aside concerns over risks like AI hallucinations, deepfakes, and job displacement.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking at a recent AI summit in Paris, stated, “The AI future is not going to be won by hand-wringing about safety.” His remarks highlighted the administration’s shift toward fostering AI growth without stringent safety measures, a stance that has raised concerns among international partners, especially in Europe.
Europe had already introduced the EU AI Act, a regulatory framework that aimed to control the technology’s potential risks. However, in response to the U.S. administration’s more relaxed approach, European officials are recalibrating their focus, emphasizing investment and innovation over strict oversight.
“We’re going to see a significant pullback in terms of the regulatory efforts… worldwide,” explained David Danks, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, noting that the trend is not limited to the United States but is also evident in Europe.
Big Tech companies are seizing this opportunity to push back against what they see as regulatory constraints, especially under the Biden administration. One of Trump’s first executive actions was to undo policies introduced by the previous administration, which had proposed modest guardrails for AI and tasked agencies with overseeing AI’s development.
“It’s clear that we’re taking a step back from that idea that there’s going to be a coherent overall approach to AI regulation,” said Karen Silverman, CEO of the AI advisory firm Cantellus Group.
The Trump administration is engaging with industry leaders to shape its AI policy, with an emphasis on ensuring that the U.S. retains its position as the “undeniable leader in AI technology” with minimal investor constraints. The responses to the administration’s call for policy input have centered on one key issue: China’s rising influence in AI development, which U.S. tech firms argue can only be countered by loosening domestic regulatory barriers.
OpenAI, in its submission to the administration, pointed to the competitive threat posed by China’s DeepSeek, a generative AI model developed at a fraction of the cost of American counterparts. The company argued that American AI development must be protected from both “autocratic powers” and “layers of laws and bureaucracy” that could hinder progress.
According to AI analyst Zvi Mowshowitz, OpenAI’s ultimate goal is for the federal government to not only avoid regulating AI but also to prevent individual states from introducing their own restrictions. OpenAI also argued that restricting access to online data, such as copyrighted materials, would hinder the U.S. in the global AI race.
Meanwhile, Hollywood figures, including actors Ben Stiller and Cynthia Erivo, expressed opposition to the idea of unfettered AI development. The entertainment industry has raised concerns about the technology’s potential to disrupt creative work, leading to a contentious relationship with AI.
Other major tech companies, like Meta, have emphasized the importance of open-source AI models, such as their Llama AI, as part of the U.S. strategy to maintain technological superiority over China. Meta’s submission highlighted the role of open-source models in ensuring that the U.S. wins the AI race.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also supported the idea of retaliatory tariffs against Europe’s regulatory efforts, underscoring the company’s stance against burdensome regulations. Google, in its input, focused on the need for substantial infrastructure investment to meet the energy demands of AI systems, while also opposing state-level regulations in the U.S., arguing that such measures would undermine America’s global leadership in technology.
Despite the strong push from industry leaders for minimal oversight, experts caution that generative AI comes with significant risks, regardless of government regulation. David Danks warned, “Bad press is universal, and if your technology leads to really bad outcomes, you’re going to get raked over the public relations coals.”
Tech companies, Danks noted, will have no choice but to address these risks, even in the absence of government-imposed regulations, to avoid damaging their reputations and public trust.
As the debate continues over how best to regulate AI, the Trump administration’s direction will likely set the tone for the future of AI governance in the U.S., potentially reshaping the global landscape for this transformative technology.
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