The Trump administration has ordered US diplomats to lobby against efforts by countries to regulate the way US tech companies handle the data of foreigners, arguing that data sovereignty laws jeopardize the progress of AI services and technology. Reuters reportedCiting an internal diplomatic cable.
According to the report, the cable, signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said such laws would “disrupt global data flows, increase costs and cybersecurity risks, limit AI and cloud services, and expand government controls that could undermine civil liberties and enable censorship.”
The cable implores diplomats to “counter unnecessarily burdensome regulations such as data localization mandates.” It also orders them to track proposals that would boost data sovereignty laws, and urged diplomats to promote the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules Forum, an international group that claims to “enable globally trusted data flows through international data protection and privacy certifications.”
The order comes as countries around the world are increasing scrutiny over how Big Tech companies and AI companies are using their citizens’ data. The EU has taken the lead on this front with laws such as gdprThe Digital Services Act and this AI ActThere are calls to curb tech companies’ control and exploitation of user data and to hold them accountable.
The Trump administration has historically opposed such regulatory approaches, and this order reinforces that position as the government seeks to boost American AI companies.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
