The Trump administration is pushing major 20 nations to adopt a “hands-off” approach and avoid heavily regulating artificial intelligence (AI), Reuters reported, citing a White House official. The related meeting opened in North Carolina on the 1st local time and runs through the 2nd.
So first, let’s unpack the term. The “hands-off” approach promoted by the United States means, quite literally, that the government should not interfere. In other words, AI should be left largely to companies to develop freely, without the government creating too many rules. Because it implies keeping regulation to a minimum, it is also called a “light-touch” approach.
The U.S. wants to put this approach into writing. It has asked participating countries to sign the “Carolina Principles,” named after the meeting’s host location. The principles have three main pillars: invest in basic AI research, expand commercial opportunities for companies, and create regulations only when absolutely necessary in response to “new issues.” The idea is that if a problem can already be handled under existing law, there is no need to create new AI-specific rules.
White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios said, “Policymakers do not need to treat every innovation as if it were a separate category, and they should not regard each newly emerging technology as presenting an unprecedented policy problem.” The innovation ministers’ meeting is co-chaired by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Kratsios.
The justification for this push is competition with China. In the rivalry for AI leadership, Washington argues that if regulation slows down domestic companies, the United States will fall behind China. The Trump administration believes that “the United States can beat China in AI only if innovation continues at a rapid pace,” and that easing regulation is the way to preserve that pace.
That is also why major figures from the AI industry are taking part in the meeting. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will appear in person on the second day, the 2nd, for a discussion with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Elon Musk will speak via video on the first day. The meeting is being held at Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with the first day devoted to technology and digital ministers and the second to trade and commerce ministers. Trade ministers from Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Poland, India, Saudi Arabia and other countries are attending.
The problem is that the world is not moving in one direction. The U.S. regulatory-easing path directly collides with the European Union. Last year, the EU adopted the world’s first comprehensive AI law, the AI Act, which strictly regulates risky AI uses. More recently, it also brought services such as ChatGPT into a stronger digital regulatory framework.
The broader international mood is also different from Washington’s. The United Nations, with its secretary-general leading the charge, has warned that stronger safeguards are needed for AI. There are growing concerns about AI’s impact on jobs, misinformation and human rights. The result is a standoff between the U.S., which wants to loosen rules and speed up innovation, and Europe and the U.N., which want to build safeguards to prevent side effects.
It is too early to say which side is right. If regulations are loosened, technology may grow quickly, but there will be fewer mechanisms to filter out harmful consequences. If regulations are tightened, safety may improve, but innovation could slow. The world still has not found the answer to how AI should be governed.
This debate is not someone else’s problem for South Korea either. South Korea is a G20 member. If the U.S. asks for signatures on the “Carolina Principles,” Seoul will have to decide whether to agree or not.
In particular, South Korea enacted a so-called “Basic AI Act” last year and is preparing for its implementation. It is a law that includes provisions for managing AI-related risks. South Korea will have to find a balance between U.S. pressure for deregulation and its own regulatory framework. Given trade relations, it is not easy to simply ignore Washington’s demands, but it is also not easy to reverse the direction of a law it has already created.
The strategic contest over AI regulation is expected to continue until the G20 summit in December. Whether to loosen rules or tighten them has emerged as a turning point that will shape the future landscape of the AI industry and determine each country’s level of leadership.