European AI Leaders Reject US Calls to Slow Down AI Development
European AI startups, academics, and government officials have publicly rejected calls by US tech leaders to slow down AI development, accusing them of self-serving motives. European entities argue that proposed AI slowdowns are attempts at regulatory capture designed to entrench the dominance of established US firms. This friction exposes a major divide in global AI governance between dominant US incumbents pushing for safety-driven restrictions and European challengers striving for digital sovereignty. If US proposals dictate global policy, European developers fear it could stifle open-source innovation and permanently lock in technical gaps. Mistral AI and researchers highlighted that allowing big tech companies to define safety thresholds and choose their own evaluation inspectors undermines genuine regulation. Meanwhile, leaders from open AI platforms like Hugging Face advocated for accelerating development and open innovation rather than imposing artificial caps.
## BACKGROUND
Regulatory capture occurs when an industry exerts undue influence over regulatory bodies to shape laws in ways that protect market incumbents and raise barriers for new competitors. European firms like France's Mistral AI and Germany's Black Forest Labs represent the region's main push for digital sovereignty to reduce heavy reliance on US tech giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft.