{"text":[[{"start":7.55,"text":"The writer is a fellow at Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. She is the author of ‘The Tech Coup’"}],[{"start":16.93,"text":"In the US, I am often asked — as the only European in the room — to justify why the EU is so heavy-handed in regulating tech companies. I am frequently told that America’s hands-off approach to regulation is the key to its unabated tech success. This is bemusing and a little concerning. The reality is that President Donald Trump’s executive decisions to intervene in tech companies directly are more radical than anything I have ever witnessed in the EU. "}],[{"start":52.01,"text":"Take the executive order that redirected a TikTok ban into a sell-off — the joint venture majority-owned by US investors including Oracle, co-founded by Trump ally Larry Ellison. The administration also took a 10 per cent stake in Intel to boost manufacturing of chips in the US. And there was a previous executive order to revoke security clearances for the chief executive of cyber security company SentinelOne — a former White House official who was sacked after contradicting Trump’s claim that the 2020 election involved fraud. The Department of Defense’s recent attempt to punish Anthropic for upholding contractual limitations on the use of its AI is another heavy-handed intervention. "}],[{"start":100.6,"text":"The avalanche of aggressive moves makes it undeniable: Trump is the regulator-in-chief. "}],[{"start":108.53999999999999,"text":"While it is tempting to dismiss the moves as Trumpian bluster, they are really something else altogether. No one puts it more clearly than Alondra Nelson, the former Biden administration official and professor, who says that the Trump administration has a “systematic preference for executive discretion over deliberative processes . . . it is hyper-regulation by other means”. "}],[{"start":133.72,"text":"A less diplomatic way of summarising the Trump administration’s interventions would be to say that they are personal and vindictive. "}],[{"start":143.86,"text":"Besides the individual picking of winners and losers, the White House’s newly published policy framework on AI takes a second stab at banning individual states from regulating the technology. This is a clear departure from the norm under federalism in delineating responsibilities of state versus federal authorities. Trump’s interventions additionally challenge core notions of free speech. So-called woke AI is now explicitly banned. "}],[{"start":173.59,"text":"American foreign policy, in which tech and AI play ever more important roles, has been affected too. Export controls have been loosened on China despite concerns over national security, while draft rules would require that the sales of any chips outside the US get a green light from the Department of Commerce. It’s not difficult to see how such a chokepoint could exacerbate the weaponising of US tech products. "}],[{"start":204.44,"text":"Meanwhile, EU leaders are embracing a process euphemistically dubbed simplification: a thinly veiled effort to deregulate, including a loosening of rules affecting tech companies. The Trump administration, which has scolded the EU for regulating American tech, will keep pushing on that open door, not to remove a bureaucratic obstacle but to delegitimise the EU as a regulator of tech altogether. "}],[{"start":232.39,"text":"It is tempting to conclude that the EU and the US are switching sides: the US regulating and the EU deregulating. But that would miss the underlying principles. "}],[{"start":246.02999999999997,"text":"An important difference between the European and American approaches is legitimacy. Democratic regulation is typically anchored in clear mandates, checks and balances. The EU is planning to reduce rules in a normal legislative process. The Trump playbook is political, personal and punitive. "}],[{"start":267.71,"text":"The net result of both Europe’s and America’s shifting approaches is even more power for the already powerful tech giants. "}],[{"start":275.89,"text":"Perhaps Americans will start to appreciate what Europeans learnt decades ago — that unchecked power by either government or companies can lead to dark days. Regulation is not a government versus industry equation, it should strengthen oversight and accountability in the face of the abuse of power, wherever it may occur. "}],[{"start":299.37,"text":"The next time I’m being ambushed by my American colleagues and asked to explain why Europeans over-regulate tech, in contrast to the freedom-loving approach of Americans, I’ll have my response ready. Both Americans and Europeans need stronger tech guardrails, firmly anchored in mandates that strengthen the rule of law. "}],[{"start":329.31,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775459874_2464.mp3"}