Stop fining Big Tech, says U.S. ambassador to EU Andrew Puzder
The European Union needs to roll back regulations on big tech companies in the US if it wants to be part of the AI economy, US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder told CNBC on Friday.
“If the European Union is going to join the AI economy… They’re going to need access to data centers, data, access to the United States AI hardware stack, and you can’t overregulate and move regulations and impose huge fines on companies,” Puzder told Ian King on CNBC’s “Europe Early Release.”
The European Commission last year took a series of measures to crack down on US tech companies. These moves have drawn repeated criticism from some officials in President Donald Trump’s administration.
“You know the companies that can bring you the data, the data centers, the American AI hardware stack,” he added. “If you regulate them outside the continent, you will not be part of the AI economy.”
“So I think it’s important for Europe to look very carefully at what it does in relation to these companies. And I think it’s important for these companies to look at the prospects of them continuing to do important business in the EU.”
The EU has defended its regulation of US tech companies, with the bloc’s competition chief Teresa Ribera saying in 2025 that “all companies operating in the EU must comply with our laws and respect European values”.
EU against US big tech
Meta It was warned in February that the EU was planning to impose measures to reverse WhatsApp AI policy on the tech giant, following a 200 million euro ($230 million) fine imposed in April. same month Apple He was fined 500 million euros and in September Google He was fined 2.95 billion euros.
In December, Elon Musk’s social media application X was fined 120 million euros. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the fine “an attack on all American technology platforms and the American people by foreign governments” in a post on X at the time.
The commission announced on Thursday that it had initiated formal proceedings to investigate whether Snapchat, the social media platform it owns, explodeComplies with the Digital Services Act (DSA) regarding child safety online.
