In this speech, JD Vance shares his vision for the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI), emphasizing the importance of embracing AI innovation while managing risks. Vance discusses how the Trump administration plans to lead the world in AI development, focusing on four key principles: ensuring the U.S. remains the global AI leader, avoiding excessive regulations, protecting AI from ideological bias, and supporting AI as a tool for job creation. He stresses that AI should complement human productivity and urges international collaboration to foster growth, not stifle it. Vance also highlights the need for robust energy infrastructure to support AI and assures that the U.S. will safeguard against authoritarian misuse of AI. He concludes by emphasizing that AI is not just a disruptive technology, but one that can enhance the U.S. workforce, offering better wages and safer communities for all.
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00:00The kind introduction, and I want to start by thanking President Macron for hosting the
00:17event and, of course, for the lovely dinner last night.
00:21During the dinner, President Macron looked at me and asked if I would like to speak,
00:24and I said, Mr. President, I'm here for the good company and free wine, but I have to
00:30earn my keep today.
00:32And I, of course, want to thank Prime Minister Modi for being here and for co-hosting the
00:36summit, for all of you for participating.
00:38And I'm not here this morning to talk about AI safety, which was the title of the conference
00:45a couple of years ago.
00:46I'm here to talk about AI opportunity.
00:49When conferences like this convene to discuss a cutting-edge technology, oftentimes I think
00:54our response is to be too self-conscious, too risk-averse.
00:59But never have I encountered a breakthrough in tech that so clearly calls us to do precisely
01:04the opposite.
01:05Now, our administration, the Trump administration, believes that AI will have countless revolutionary
01:11applications in economic innovation, job creation, national security, health care, free expression,
01:18and beyond.
01:19And to restrict its development now will not only unfairly benefit incumbents in the space,
01:25it would mean paralyzing one of the most promising technologies we have seen in generations.
01:30Now, with that in mind, I'd like to make four main points today.
01:36Number one, this administration will ensure that American AI technology continues to be
01:42the gold standard worldwide, and we are the partner of choice for others, foreign countries,
01:48and certainly businesses, as they expand their own use of AI.
01:52Number two, we believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative
01:59industry just as it's taking off, and we'll make every effort to encourage pro-growth
02:05AI policies, and I like to see that deregulatory flavor making its way into a lot of the conversations
02:12this conference.
02:15Number three, we feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias,
02:21and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.
02:27And finally, number four, the Trump administration will maintain a pro-worker growth path for
02:33AI, so it can be a potent tool for job creation in the United States, and I appreciate Prime
02:38Minister Modi's point, AI, I really believe, will facilitate and make people more productive.
02:45It is not going to replace human beings.
02:47It will never replace human beings, and I think too many of the leaders in the AI industry,
02:52when they talk about this fear of replacing workers, I think they really miss the point.
02:57AI, we believe, is going to make us more productive, more prosperous, and more free.
03:03The United States of America is the leader in AI, and our administration plans to keep
03:08it that way.
03:09The U.S. possesses all components across the full AI stack, including advanced semiconductor
03:16design, frontier algorithms, and, of course, transformational applications.
03:21Now the computing power this stack requires is integral to advancing AI technology, and
03:27to safeguard America's advantage, the Trump administration will ensure that the most powerful
03:32AI systems are built in the U.S. with American-designed and manufactured chips.
03:38Now, just because we're the leader doesn't mean we want to or need to go it alone, of
03:43course, and let me be emphatic about this point.
03:47America wants to partner with all of you, and we want to embark on the AI revolution
03:53before us with the spirit of openness and collaboration.
03:59But to create that kind of trust, we need international regulatory regimes that fosters
04:06the creation of AI technology rather than strangles it.
04:10And we need our European friends in particular to look to this new frontier with optimism
04:16rather than trepidation.
04:17Now, the development of cutting-edge AI in the U.S. is no accident.
04:22By preserving an open regulatory environment, we've encouraged American innovators to experiment
04:28and to make unparalleled R&D investments.
04:31Of the $700 billion, give or take, that's estimated to be spent on AI in 2028, over
04:37half of it will likely be invested in the United States of America.
04:41Now, this administration will not be the one to snuff out the startups and the grad students
04:46producing some of the most groundbreaking applications of artificial intelligence.
04:52Instead, our laws will keep big tech, little tech, and all other developers on a level
04:59playing field.
05:00Now, with the President's recent executive order on AI, we're developing an AI action
05:05plan that avoids an overly precautionary regulatory regime while ensuring that all Americans benefit
05:12from the technology and its transformative potential.
05:15Now, we invite your countries to work with us and to follow that model if it makes sense
05:20for your nations.
05:21However, the Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are
05:27considering tightening the screws on U.S. tech companies with international footprints.
05:33Now, America cannot and will not accept that, and we think it's a terrible mistake, not
05:38just for the United States of America, but for your own countries.
05:42Now, U.S. innovators of all sizes already know what it's like to deal with onerous international
05:47rules.
05:49Many of our most productive tech companies are forced to deal with the EU's Digital Services
05:53Act and the massive regulations it created about taking down content and policing so-called
05:59misinformation.
06:00And of course, we want to ensure the Internet is a safe place, but it is one thing to prevent
06:07a predator from preying on a child on the Internet, and it is something quite different
06:11to prevent a grown man or woman from accessing an opinion that the government thinks is misinformation.
06:18Meanwhile, for smaller firms, navigating the GDPR means paying endless legal compliance
06:24costs or otherwise risking massive fines.
06:27Now, for some, the easiest way to avoid the dilemma has been to simply block EU users
06:32in the first place.
06:34Is this really the future that we want?
06:36Ladies and gentlemen, I think the answer for all of us should be no.
06:39Now, there's no issue where we worry about more than regulation when it comes to energy.
06:45And again, I appreciated the comments of so many at the conference because they recognize
06:50that we can't we stand now at the frontier of an AI industry that is hungry for reliable
06:57power and high-quality semiconductors, yet too many of our friends are deindustrializing
07:04on the one hand and chasing reliable power out of their nations and off their grids with
07:09the other.
07:11The AI future is not going to be won by hand-wringing about safety.
07:16It will be won by building from reliable power plants to the manufacturing facilities that
07:22can produce the chips of the future.
07:25Now, at a personal level, what excites me most about AI is that it is grounded in the
07:30real and the physical economy.
07:33The success of the sector isn't just a matter of smart people sitting in front of a computer
07:37screen and coding.
07:39It depends on those who work with their hands, even as robotics will change our factories.
07:45It will certainly make our health care providers better at treating diseases, but it will also
07:50depend on the data produced by those health care providers, by those doctors and nurses.
07:56I believe it will help us create and store new modes of power in the future.
08:03But right now, AI cannot take off unless the world builds the energy infrastructure to
08:09support it.
08:11Now it's my view that tech innovation over the last 20 years has often conjured images
08:16of smart people staring at computer screens, engineering in the world of bits.
08:22But the AI economy will primarily depend on and transform the world of atoms.
08:29Now at this moment, we face the extraordinary prospect of a new industrial revolution, one
08:35on par with the invention of the steam engine or Bessemer steel.
08:39But it will never come to pass if over-regulation deters innovators from taking the risks necessary
08:46to advance the ball.
08:48Nor will it occur if we allow AI to become dominated by massive players looking to use
08:54the tech to censor or control users' thoughts.
08:59And I'd ask if you step back a moment and ask yourself, who is most aggressively demanding
09:05that we, meaning political leaders gathered here today, do the most aggressive regulation?
09:11It is very often the people who already have an incumbent advantage in the market.
09:16And when a massive incumbent comes to us asking us for safety regulations, we ought to ask
09:22whether that safety regulation is for the benefit of our people or whether it's for
09:27the benefit of the incumbent.
09:28Now, over the last few years, we've watched as governments, businesses, and nonprofit
09:35organizations have advanced unpopular and, I believe, downright ahistorical social agendas
09:41through AI.
09:43In the U.S., we had AI image generators trying to tell us that George Washington was black
09:49or that America's doughboys in World War I were, in fact, women.
09:53Now, we laugh at this now, and, of course, it was ridiculous, but we have to remember
09:59the lessons from that ridiculous moment.
10:03And what we take from it is that the Trump administration will ensure that AI systems
10:08developed in America are free from ideological bias and never restrict our citizens' right
10:14to free speech.
10:16We can trust our people to think, to consume information, to develop their own ideas, and
10:23to debate with one another in the open marketplace of ideas.
10:27Now, we've also watched as hostile foreign adversaries have weaponized AI software to
10:33rewrite history, surveil users, and censor speech.
10:37This is hardly new, of course.
10:39As they do with other tech, some authoritarian regimes have stolen and used AI to strengthen
10:46their military, intelligence, and surveillance capabilities, capture foreign data, and create
10:52propaganda to undermine other nations' national security.
10:57I want to be clear.
10:58This administration will block such efforts full stop.
11:03We will safeguard American AI and chip technologies from theft and misuse, work with our allies
11:09and partners to strengthen and extend these protections, and close pathways to adversaries
11:15attaining AI capabilities that threaten all of our people.
11:19And I would also remind our international friends here today that partnering with such
11:24regimes, it never pays off in the long term.
11:28From CCTV to 5G equipment, we're all familiar with cheap tech in the marketplace that's
11:32been heavily subsidized and exported by authoritarian regimes.
11:38But as I know, and I think some of us in this room have learned from experience, partnering
11:44with them means chaining your nation to an authoritarian master that seeks to infiltrate,
11:50dig in, and seize your information infrastructure.
11:54Should a deal seem too good to be true, just remember the old adage that we learned in
11:58Silicon Valley, if you aren't paying for the product, you are the product.
12:04Finally, this administration wants to be very clear about one last point.
12:09We will always center American workers in our AI policy.
12:14We refuse to view AI as a purely disruptive technology that will inevitably automate away
12:20our labor force.
12:21We believe, and we will fight for policies that ensure, that AI is going to make our
12:26workers more productive, and we expect that they will reap the rewards with higher wages,
12:33better benefits, and safer and more prosperous communities.
12:37From law to medicine, manufacturing, the most immediate applications of AI almost all involve
12:45supplementing, not replacing, the work being done by Americans.
12:51Now combined with this administration's worker-first approach to immigration, we believe that a
12:56U.S. labor force prepared to use AI to its fullest extent will instead attract the attention
13:01of businesses that have offshored some of these roles.
13:06To accomplish this, the administration will make sure that America has the best trained
13:11workforce in the world.
13:14Our schools will teach students how to manage, how to supervise, and how to interact with
13:19AI-enabled tools as they become more and more a part of our everyday lives.
13:25And as AI creates new jobs and industries, our government, businesses, and labor organizations
13:31have an obligation to work together to empower the workers, not just of the United States,
13:38but all over the world.
13:41To that end, for all major AI policy decisions coming from the federal government, the Trump
13:47administration will guarantee American workers a seat at the table, and we're very proud
13:52of that.
13:53Now, I've taken up enough of your time, so I'd like to close with just a quick story.
13:58This is a beautiful country, President Macron, and I know that you're proud of it and should
14:01be.
14:02And yesterday, as I was touring Les Invalides with General Gravette, with my three kids,
14:09he was kind enough to show me the sword that belonged to America's dearest international
14:13friend from our own revolution, of course, the Marquis de Lafayette.
14:17He let me hold the sword, but of course he made me put on the white gloves beforehand.
14:21And it got me thinking of this country, France, and of course of my own country, and of the
14:26beautiful civilization that we have built together with weapons like that saber, weapons
14:34that are dangerous in the wrong hands, but are incredible tools for liberty and prosperity
14:41in the right hands.
14:43I couldn't help but think of the conference today, if we choose the wrong approach on
14:49other things that could be conceived of as dangerous, things like AI, and choose to hold
14:55ourselves back, it will alter not only our GDP or the stock market, but the very future
15:01of the project that Lafayette and the American founders set off to create.
15:05Now, this doesn't mean, of course, that all concerns about safety go out the window, but
15:10focus matters.
15:12And we must focus now on the opportunity to catch lightning in a bottle, unleash our most
15:18brilliant innovators, and use AI to improve the well-being of our nations and their peoples.
15:26With great confidence, I can say it is an opportunity that the Trump administration
15:31will not squander.
15:33And we hope everyone convened here today feels exactly the same.
15:37Thank you, and God bless you all.