Vice President Vance said Tuesday America should not be fearful of artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies, and he argued during a speech to technology and business leaders that populists and tech-focused leaders could co-exist.
Vance addressed the American Dynamism Summit, a gathering hosted by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in Washington, D.C., where he made the case for embracing artificial intelligence despite its potential risks.
“In America, we’ve got to be tech-forward. Yes, there are concerns. Yes there are risks, but we have to be leaning into the AI future with optimism and hope, because I think real technological innovation is going to make our country stronger,” Vance said.
The vice president told attendees that America should “seek to dominate” AI and other new technologies. He invoked a speech he delivered in Paris last month in which he warned against “excessive regulation” of AI.
Vance, who has deep professional and political ties to Silicon Valley, also brushed off the idea that President Trump’s administration could not appeal to both populists and so-called tech optimists.
Populists, Vance said, have raised concerns that advances in AI and other technologies could cost working-class individuals their jobs and their sense of community. Tech optimists, the vice president said, worry about overregulation that stifles innovation.
Vance said tensions between the two factions, both of which supported Trump in the last election, are “overstated.”
“I’d like to speak to these tensions as a proud member of both tribes,” Vance said. “Let me put it simply. While this is a well-intentioned concern, I think it’s based on a faulty premise. This idea that tech-forward people and the populists are somehow inevitably going to come to a loggerheads is wrong. I think the reality is that in any dynamic society, technology is going to advance.”
