In a city known for its art, culture, and occasional diplomatic drama, U.S. Vice President JD Vance took to the stage at the AI Action Summit in Paris, delivering a speech that was as bold as a double espresso. His message? Let's keep artificial intelligence free from the shackles of excessive regulation and ideological bias. Because, after all, who needs rules when you're on the cutting edge of technology?
AI: The Greatest Opportunity Since the Internet
Whenever a new technology emerges, people tend to split into two camps. One group fixates on risks—what could go wrong, what needs regulation, what must be controlled. The other sees opportunity—the problems that can be solved, the industries that can be reshaped, the wealth that can be created. Right now, AI is at this crossroads, and JD Vance just made it clear where he stands: opportunity.
This is the right way to think about AI. Not because there aren’t risks—there always are with any powerful technology—but because focusing on opportunity is what moves the world forward. The internet had risks too. Some people worried about fraud, scams, and misinformation. But imagine if, in the early 90s, the U.S. government had focused only on those risks. No Amazon, no Google, no Facebook (well, maybe that last one wouldn’t be so bad). The point is, progress comes from betting on potential, not obsessing over downsides.
The Regulatory Trap
The people who call for strict AI safety measures before we even understand what AI is capable of are making a fundamental mistake. They assume we can predict the future well enough to regulate it in advance. But history suggests otherwise. The first cars were dangerous too—no seat belts, no traffic laws, no understanding of how they should fit into society. But we figured it out as we went. If regulators had shut down automobiles in the 1900s because they were unsafe, we’d still be riding horses.
A common argument from the AI safety crowd is that this time is different—that AI is uniquely dangerous. Maybe. But people said the same about electricity. And steam engines. And radio. And the internet. Every transformative technology feels scary at first because its consequences are unpredictable. The best way to handle that isn’t to freeze in fear but to experiment, learn, and adapt.
AI Will Create More Jobs Than It Destroys
Another concern people raise is jobs. They worry AI will replace workers, leaving millions unemployed. This is another common fear with new technology. It happened with the Industrial Revolution, with computers, with automation. And yet, over time, technology has always created more jobs than it has destroyed.
Why? Because new technology makes us more productive, and increased productivity drives economic growth. AI will be no different. Yes, some jobs will disappear. But entirely new industries will emerge—ones we can’t even imagine yet. In 1995, no one thought the internet would create social media managers, YouTube influencers, or cloud computing engineers. AI will generate similar unforeseen opportunities. The only question is: will we embrace them, or fear them?
The Countries That Move Fastest Win
There’s another reason to focus on AI opportunity: global competition. AI is a race, and the countries that move fastest will dominate. The U.S. won the internet revolution because it embraced entrepreneurship, risk-taking, and open markets. That’s why Silicon Valley—not Europe or China—became the global tech hub. If the U.S. gets too bogged down in AI safety discussions while other countries move ahead, we’ll fall behind.
China isn’t hesitating. They’re pouring money into AI, deploying it at scale, and integrating it into their economy. If the U.S. slows down AI development in the name of safety, we’re effectively handing leadership over to China. And do we really want the future of AI to be shaped by an authoritarian government?
The Right Approach
The right approach to AI is the same approach that worked for previous technological revolutions:
- Encourage innovation. Let startups experiment. Let companies push boundaries.
- Regulate lightly and reactively. Focus on bad actors and clear harms, not hypothetical doomsday scenarios.
- Invest in talent. The U.S. should be the best place in the world to build AI, attracting top researchers and entrepreneurs.
This is how progress happens. Not through fear, but through ambition. Not by asking, what could go wrong?, but by asking, what could go right?
JD Vance’s message is the right one. AI isn’t a threat to be contained—it’s an opportunity to be seized.