US Vice President JD Vance took to the podium as he gave a keynote on the final day of the Paris AI Action Summit, where he gave several key insights on the Trump administration’s strategy on the technology. During his speech, Vance focused on the opportunities that AI brings, and that the White House will continue supporting the technology through its policies.
“The United States of America is the leader in AI and our administration plans to keep it that way. The US possesses all components across the full AI stack, including advanced semiconductor design, frontier algorithms, and, of course, transformational applications,” said the Vice President. “Now the computing power this stack requires is integral to advancing AI technology, and to safeguard America’s advantage, the Trump administration will ensure the most powerful AI systems are built in the US with American-designed and manufactured chips.”
This announcement is good news for the semiconductor industry, especially as Trump has previously voiced opposition to the CHIPS and Science Act during his campaign. This is in addition to the act currently making its way through the U.S. Congress that would give tax credits to chip designers and manufacturers, helping boost semiconductor innovation within the country. He added that Washington is already working on an AI strategy that will remove overly precautionary regulations while remaining beneficial to the American public.
Vance invited other countries to partner with the U.S. and also welcomed them to replicate this policy. But he also criticized the European Union’s regulations—specifically, the Digital Services Act and GDPR — which he called “onerous international rules.” The VP said these impose excessive legal costs on smaller firms and are stifling free speech by preventing an adult from “accessing an opinion that the government thinks is misinformation.” He also emphasized AI’s need for electricity, saying that it needs high-quality semiconductors and reliable power sources, but that many countries are choosing to de-industrialize while removing stable power sources from their grids.
Lastly, he also warned against partnering with hostile authoritarian regimes, saying that even though they deliver cheap technologies right now, long-term partnerships with them will not pay off. While he didn’t directly mention China (whose representative was seated close by), Vance called out cheap 5G and CCTV equipment, Chinese exports that are widely used in the U.S. and its allies until they were banned and removed starting in 2019.
“Some of us in this room have learned from experience, partnering with them means chaining your nation to an authoritarian master that seeks to infiltrate, dig in, and seize your information infrastructure,” VP JD Vance said. “Should a deal seem too good to be true, just remember the old adage that we learned in Silicon Valley, ‘If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product.’”
