The Lawfare Podcast Scaling Laws: Contrasting and Conflicting Efforts to Regulate Big Tech: EU v. U.S.
8 snips
Sep 5, 2025 
Anu Bradford, a Columbia Law School professor renowned for her work on the Brussels Effect, teams up with Kate Klonick, a law and technology specialist from St. John's University. Together, they dissect the contrasting regulatory landscapes for Big Tech in the EU and the U.S. Key discussions include the EU's approach to AI regulation and its broader influence on American tech, the U.S.'s interventionist policies, and the challenges facing European tech entrepreneurs. The conversation highlights the delicate balance between innovation and consumer safety in a rapidly evolving digital world.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
EU Rules Shape Global AI Practice
- The EU AI Act creates binding constraints that global AI firms must confront because they operate in Europe and serve 450 million users.
- Companies often adopt the EU's stricter rules globally for scale, preemption, and reputational trust.
Preemptive Compliance Pays Off
- Preempt upcoming regulation by aligning products to stricter standards now to avoid future compliance costs across multiple jurisdictions.
- Use stronger protections to build user trust and reduce regulatory risk internationally.
GDPR Precedent And Political Pushback
- European enforcement like GDPR produced global behavior shifts but enforcement has been uneven and politically contested.
- U.S. rhetoric now targets EU digital rules as economically and politically threatening to American firms.
