It was February 16th and Time Magazine released an article titled The AI Arms Race is Changing Everything.
This was two years ago, 2023. It noted that “investors [are] betting big that generative AI could be as market shaking as Microsoft Windows 95 or the first iPhone…”
And:
“As profit takes precedence over safety, some technologists and philosophers warn of existential risk. The explicit goal of many of these AI companies—including OpenAI—is to create an Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, that can think and learn more efficiently than humans.”
Our last PTP Report looked at updated predictions on AGI, but it’s safe to say that there was far greater concern two years ago about AGI regulation and the dangers of an AI arms race.
Now it’s 2025, and the Chinese company DeepSeek has stunned the world with models nearly as capable as OpenAI’s top offerings, despite vastly inferior resources. Big tech investments have only continued to climb (+46% in capital expenditure for 2025 by Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon alone), and as we witness a greatly renewed emphasis on winning the global competition alongside deregulation, the world appears to be entering a new, and far more dramatic, phase in the AI arms race.
Today we consider changes in global AI policy, as have been thrust into the spotlight by the AI Action Summit in Paris this past month.
The Trump Administration: Deregulation with Caution or Full Steam Ahead?
The Trump administration’s stance on AI regulation is still largely undefined, but its actions, and messaging from the AI summit in Paris, suggest a clear direction. One of the first moves was to repeal Biden’s executive order on AI, which to date was the most comprehensive of the national AI regulatory frameworks yet defined.
In its place, the new administration introduced the executive order Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence order, emphasizing America’s role as global leader, expressing that AI should be free from “ideological bias,” and aiming for AI to aid in “human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.” It also stipulated a full plan would be drawn up within 180 days for greater detail.
With some $39 billion in CHIPS Act industry subsidies in play, the Trump administration is also reportedly planning a shift in requirements and renegotiation of some existing deals, though it appears the initiative continues moving forward overall.
But Taiwan’s GlobalWafers spokesperson Leah Peng noted in a statement to Reuters:
“The CHIPS Program Office has told us that certain conditions that do not align with President (Donald) Trump’s executive orders and policies are now under review for all CHIPS Direct Funding Agreements.”
GlobalWafers is set to receive $406 million in grants for domestic US projects, but these include conditions being met, and some from the prior administration included that union workers be used, and affordable childcare be provided, for example.
Additional complications stem from allowances some of the companies were given to also expand or continue doing business in China (Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix are all recipients with operations underway or plans to grow there).
This hesitation accompanies the ongoing consideration of tariffs with China, which may impact big tech companies in other ways. As Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak told Yahoo Finance, Amazon’s non-grocery goods have some 40% exposure to China, and the majority of Apple’s products are manufactured there (analysts estimate up to 90% of their production happens in China).
On the subject of AI regulation challenges, voices within the administration vary, and while less regulation is almost certain, it remains to be seen how it will play out.
Elon Musk has recently been a leading voice on the subject of AI risks. In the first AI summit, 2023’s AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in the UK, Musk sat down for a much-publicized interview with then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and said we are witnessing “the most disruptive force in history,” and that, with a potential to be smarter than the smartest human, the technology that could make paid work unnecessary.
He has expressed concern about humanoid robots and a need for artificial general intelligence regulations or oversight, factors that impacted his role as co-founder of OpenAI initially (before leaving the company), and surfacing again in his current fight with their shift to for-profit status.
Musk said at the World Government Summit in Dubai that:
“This is analogous to if you fund a nonprofit to preserve the Amazon rainforest but instead they turn it into a lumber company and chop down trees and sell them for wood, you’d be like: ‘Wait a second, that’s the exact opposite of what I donated the money for.’”
Potentially on the side of complete deregulation is venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who has been closely involved with the administration’s technology policy.
Andreesen expressed extreme concern after his meetings with the Biden administration and was opposed to the executive order. He has expressed the belief that AI will be a positive for humanity and that regulations are more unhelpful and damaging to development than effective for ensuring safety.
And while President Trump has expressed his determination that the US should lead on AI and has greenlit a push for American dominance internationally (see below), the administration has also supported anti-trust policies in tech in the past, and it remains to be seen how much caution may inform views around advanced developments like AGI.
But if the Paris summit was any indication, it appears deregulation is the initial focus.
The Paris Summit: AI Policy Implications
The Paris Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in February was a continuation of an event started in 2023 with the AI Safety Summit, putting a focus on global cooperation and shared priorities on AI.
And as an indication of AI’s growing power worldwide, this year’s event drew 90 countries (vs. the first’s 29) and over 1000 attendees from private industry (vs. the handful of executives at the original).
The emphasis for this summit was meant to be different from the start. Using the word “action” in the title, it was to focus on realizing AI’s economic power.
In the end, two countries, the US and UK, refused to sign the summit’s final declaration, entitled The Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet, as 58 other nations did.
This striking result, coupled with contrasting speeches made by leadership, appeared to signal a more aggressive and independent turn in AI development, contrasting with the words of cooperation and safety offered at prior events.
And while optimism was more fully on display by design, there were still events dedicated to security, such as in sentiments shared by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Schmidt warned of AI’s use for terrorism by rogue nations, and supported US export controls put in place by the former administration to slow AI research in 18 countries. While he agreed regulation could stifle innovation at a time of great development, he also warned that governments must pay close attention to ongoing development.
Ultimately, he backed a growing sentiment at the summit, that due in part to regulation, “the AI revolution, which is the most important revolution in my opinion since electricity, is not going to be invented in Europe.”
More Summit Takeaways:
- French President Emmanuel Macron announced a €109 billion AI investment plan by private investors, aimed at making France a global AI powerhouse while balancing innovation with ethical oversight.
- Macron also said that Europe needs to “simplify” and “resynchronize” with the world. To “go faster,” scaling back some regulation for a more business-friendly approach, though he still acknowledged some was needed, such as to protect intellectual property.
- US Vice President JD Vance’s AI speech at the event may have been the most insight yet given publicly on the administration’s views. Vance said: “The Trump administration will ensure that the most powerful AI systems are built in the US with American design and manufactured chips,” but also that “just because we are the leader doesn’t mean we want to or need to go it alone.”
- He also outlined four key principles for the administration’s policy:
- American AI technology continues to be the gold standard.
- Excessive regulation of the AI sector will not be tolerated.
- AI must remain free from ideological bias.
- American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian use.
- On regulation, Vance advocated consistently for less, criticizing the GDPR and saying “The A.I. future is not going to be won by handwringing about safety.”
[For more on European regulations from the GDPR to the AI Act, check out this edition of The PTP Report.]
- And despite joining the US in not signing the event’s declaration, the UK said it would not soften its own online safety rules to appease the US.
- Chinese company DeepSeek was a frequently discussed topic at the event, showing that innovation can make up for some shortcomings in technology, and spurring on both smaller companies and nations hoping to catch up to the bigger players like the US.
Running the Global AI Talent Race with PTP
With this increased global focus on speed and competition, alongside the displayed power of human ingenuity from the DeepSeek breakthroughs, the demand for top AI talent is only growing.
Along with a scramble to increase compute, with bigger data centers needing more power, there’s also intensifying competition to land the best AI engineers and researchers. There can be no doubt human talent is one of the less publicized global AI investment trends, and yet one of the most critical.
And with larger firms either already in the AI race or dragging their feet, startups are being invigorated by better open-source models, reduced regulatory scrutiny, and increased venture capital funding, making talent a great need and potential leveler as they seek to break through.
At PTP, we have our own pipeline of great AI and ML talent onshore, offshore, and nearshore, available onsite or off, and we love pairing great people with organizations in need.
Regardless of your scale, attracting and retaining top talent in AI is now more important than ever, as we move into an even higher gear in the race to secure the newest AI innovations.
Conclusion
Back in 2023, there was a lot of concern about the scale of a sudden surge in AI investment, and it was accompanied by AI security concerns and a growing sense of the need for regulations.
Europe took the lead with their AI Act, and the Biden administration released its own executive order (which at the time many considered to be insufficient).
Now, two years later, we’re only seeing even greater acceleration. More is being invested than ever before, and, without additional regulations added to the table, Europe has already begun falling behind. With China’s DeepSeek offerings achieving starting success with less technology and compute, both respect for the power of human ingenuity and the sense of urgency are only growing.
The question is no longer if AI will be as impactful as technological breakthroughs like Windows 95 and the iPhone, but instead who will reach each plateau first, and what they’ll do with it.
References
The AI Arms Race Is Changing Everything, Time
Trump is getting ready to change US CHIPS Act conditions, sources say, Reuters
Elon Musk tells Rishi Sunak AI will put an end to work, BBC
Elon Musk will withdraw his nearly $100 billion bid for OpenAI if it remains a nonprofit, CNN Business
Why Marc Andreessen was ‘very scared’ after meeting with the Biden administration about AI, TechCrunch
Rogue states could use AI to do ‘real harm’, warns ex-Google CEO, The Guardian
Vance, in First Foreign Speech, Tells Europe That U.S. Will Dominate A.I., The New York Times
OpenAI’s new defense contract completes its military pivot, MIT Technology Review
