The Trump administration has ordered U.S. diplomats to lobby against attempts by countries to restrict how U.S. tech companies handle foreign data, saying data sovereignty laws threaten advances in AI services and technology, Reuters reported, citing domestic diplomatic cables.
The cable, signed by 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 control in ways that violate civil liberties and enable censorship,” according to the report.
The cable urges diplomats to “stand against unnecessarily burdensome regulations such as data localization requirements.” It also ordered governments to track proposals to promote 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 certification.”
The order comes as countries around the world increase scrutiny of how Big Tech and AI companies use their citizens’ data. The European Union is leading the way in this area with laws such as the GDPR, the Digital Services Act, and the AI Act, which seek to curb and hold tech companies accountable for their control and misuse of user data.
The Trump administration has historically opposed such regulatory approaches, and the order strengthens that position as the government seeks to boost U.S. AI companies.
The US State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
