- The authors argue that AI is already transforming medicine, agriculture, waste reduction, and fusion energy, making leadership in the technology a strategic issue for democratic societies.
- The report says the EU’s proposed AI Act is a legitimate effort to align technology with society, but warns that its broad design could put regulation and innovation on a collision course.
- The authors present the GDPR and ePrivacy cookie rules as cautionary examples of regulatory approaches that can create heavy compliance burdens and produce unintended practical effects.
- The report argues that explainability requirements in the proposed AI Act may be difficult to apply to emerging AI systems, including large language models such as ChatGPT.
- The authors contend that the central security threat for democracies is falling behind in AI innovation, which would reduce their ability to shape how data and algorithms are developed and used.
This report examines artificial intelligence governance through the lens of transatlantic technology competition, focusing on the European Union’s proposed AI Act and the need for U.S.-European alignment. The authors argue that AI is reshaping societies and economies, while leadership in AI will influence digital infrastructure, values, and the international order. They contend that the EU’s proposed AI Act is a legitimate attempt to ensure technology serves society, but warn that an all-encompassing regulatory approach could create compliance burdens, lag behind technical change, and weaken democratic innovation. The report uses examples including the GDPR, cookie consent rules, TikTok data concerns, ChatGPT explainability questions, and the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council to illustrate tensions among regulation, innovation, security, and trade. Its recommendations call for pro-innovation and responsible governance, greater strategic alignment between the United States and Europe, stronger cooperation with the private sector, government-supported investment in digital ecosystem projects, technically grounded standards, and a new “DemTech alliance.” The policy relevance centers on ensuring democratic societies can regulate AI while remaining competitive against authoritarian states, particularly China, in shaping the future digital order.
Published by the Special Competitive Studies Project. Co-publishers and external authors, where they exist, are credited in the byline above.