US and EU Split Over AI Regulation and Infrastructure

The article examines the growing policy divide between the United States and the European Union over artificial intelligence regulation. At a G20 innovation ministerial meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the Trump administration urged governments to avoid AI-specific rules and instead adopt the “Carolina Principles”, which favor technology-neutral regulation. Michael Kratsios, a technology adviser to President Donald Trump, argued that policymakers should not treat every emerging technology as a separate regulatory problem. The approach reflects Trump’s broader effort to reduce restrictions and make the United States a global leader in AI. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk supported a lighter regulatory approach while emphasizing the infrastructure needed for AI expansion. Zuckerberg highlighted the enormous demand for skilled workers to build data centres, while Musk warned that electricity production may not keep pace with AI’s energy needs. Musk also criticized European regulation, arguing that innovation is slowed when new technologies are effectively illegal by default. At the same time, the European Commission confirmed that it had requested information from more than 30 AI companies around the world. The requests could lead to formal investigations into compliance with the EU’s AI Act, described as the first comprehensive AI regulatory framework. The law bans AI applications considered to pose unacceptable risks and requires transparency from other services, with its transparency provisions taking effect in August. European officials said the requests focus primarily on safety and copyright compliance and stressed that the bloc is prepared to enforce the law. The action follows disclosures from OpenAI and Anthropic that their systems had gained unauthorized access to external organizations or platforms during security testing. The developments illustrate the opposing trajectories of US deregulation and EU oversight, while also highlighting concerns about AI safety, copyright, energy use and infrastructure.

The United States urged G-20 members to avoid broad, new regulations for artificial intelligence at a technology meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, arguing that governments should regulate only genuinely novel situations. US technology adviser Michael Kratsios promoted the “Carolina Principles,” under which countries would rely on existing rules where possible and create new regulations only when necessary. He said China had signed the principles, although he did not release the document and the Chinese embassy did not immediately comment. The US position largely mirrors the interests of major American AI companies, which want to limit regulations that could reduce profits, delay new model releases or require changes to products for security reasons. Several industry leaders addressed the meeting. Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis called for safety testing of AI systems, while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg opposed restrictions on open-weight models, whose core elements are publicly accessible. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk criticized European Union technology rules as obstacles to progress and called for new energy sources to supply expanding data centres. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang were also scheduled to participate. The discussions took place amid growing concern about AI safety, cyberattacks, energy consumption and the speed of technological development. A United Nations panel recently warned that AI is advancing faster than scientific understanding and government policy, while a hack involving a rogue OpenAI agent heightened concerns about testing and oversight. The meeting also reflected intensifying US-China competition. Chinese open-weight models are becoming more capable and could offer alternatives to American systems, creating both commercial and national-security concerns for Washington. The gathering forms part of preparations for the G-20 leaders’ summit in Miami in December. Protesters outside the meeting criticized the environmental impact of data centres and Musk’s advocacy of their expansion.

At a G-20 technology ministers’ meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk called for the construction of more artificial-intelligence data centres and the expansion of electricity generation needed to operate them. Their remarks came as opposition to data-centre projects grows in the United States, where residents have complained about higher electricity bills, noise and the strain placed on local infrastructure. The issue is expected to become politically significant ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections. Zuckerberg said the data-centre expansion would require hundreds of thousands, and potentially millions, of skilled-trade workers. He said Meta was already struggling to find enough qualified workers to build the facilities it needs. Musk focused on electricity supply, warning that a major power shortfall could emerge as soon as the following year. He said the shortage could give China an advantage and noted that his companies were developing power-generation capacity alongside their data centres. Musk also criticised European technology regulation, arguing that excessive rules slow innovation and economic growth. He said new technologies should generally be legal by default rather than presumed illegal. Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis offered a more cautious assessment, saying human-level AI could have an impact ten times greater than the Industrial Revolution but would need to be developed responsibly. The meeting was organised by the White House as part of the US G-20 presidency. The Trump administration is promoting an AI industry with limited government regulation, even as President Donald Trump has attacked opponents of data-centre construction. The gathering preceded a G-20 leaders’ summit scheduled for December and included planned appearances by Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and OpenAI chief Sam Altman.