BARCELONA – In a speech during the Mobile World Congress, Chairman of the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Brendan Carr, warned that AI cannot be developed with “ideological bias”, and that he will defend American companies if  Europe takes “protectionist regulations”.

In the discussions, initially focused on telecoms, Carr praised American leadership on AI, and signalled that the county was looking to partner with international allies.

However, he also took that opportunity to have a go at Europeans, saying that AI should not be developed with “ideological bias” in mind.

He went on to denounce the retreat of free speech in the world, calling the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) incompatible with  “American free speech tradition.”

Carr also said he reached out to American tech companies regulated by the DSA, to ask them how they could work together to find a path forward so that they are not “excessively fined for doing business in Europe” and so they stay true to “American free speech”.

Speaking on the common panel that followed, Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen did not react to Carr’s speech.

Carr warned that “if there is an urge in Europe to engage in protectionist regulation, the US administration will speak up in the interest of US businesses.”