Bureaucrats in Brussels are at it again, this time tag-teaming with publishers to use harmful regulation to shake down America’s most successful companies and destroy America’s lead in AI development.
For years, the European Union has been rolling out a tangled web of acronyms — the DMA, or Digital Markets Act, the DSA, or Digital Service Act, and the Copyright Directive — all aimed squarely at U.S. tech firms. They claim this is about “fairness” and “strengthening democracy,” but it is old-fashioned protectionism, plain and simple.
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The real force behind this regulatory assault isn’t just out-of-touch bureaucrats. They are partnering with Europe‘s own legacy media empires, an unholy alliance to say the least. Companies such as Axel Springer SE (owner of Business Insider and Politico) and their publisher associations are campaigning to restrain American market access and subsidize their own failing business models.
The cost to America-first innovation is staggering. These regulations are already imposing up to $97.6 billion in costs and revenue losses on U.S. companies every year. It’s a direct tax on American success, designed to prop up European competitors who can’t win in a fair fight.
As U.S.-led AI development accelerates globally, Europe’s regulatory push against American tech firms risks kneecapping innovation for everyone.
Late last month, an alliance of European publishers filed a DSA complaint against Google, trying to block its new AI search features. They claim AI-generated responses prevent clickthroughs and unfairly reduce publisher reach and ad revenue.
They said this has “serious consequences for media diversity, freedom of expression, and democratic discourse.”
Days later, Germany’s culture minister, Wolfram Weimer, publicly called for Google to be “broken up.” But guess what! This same minister is a former senior executive from Axel Springer, one of the main players demanding these shakedowns.
They aren’t even trying to hide it. This is a coordinated campaign to use state power to crush American competition and force our companies to pay billions in direct subsidies, all at the expense of American workers, American investors, and, ultimately, consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
These voices claim harm from the very platforms that amplify their content. Where would their content be without Google? How would people find their content without Apple products? Instead of complaining about how Google’s early development of AI is rotten and evil, maybe they should work with Google to make it better. Not tax and regulate it out of business.
The good news is that President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance see this racket for what it is. They have called out these discriminatory efforts and have placed America’s mandate to lead the tech industry as paramount for prosperity and national security.
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This is no time to back down. As Brussels begins to review the DMA and consider updates to its Copyright Directive, you can bet the bureaucrats are planning to come back for more. The Trump administration and Congress must maintain Trump’s clear-eyed, America-first position.
We must send an unmistakable message to Europe: Our most innovative companies are not your piggy bank, and this regulatory extortion ends now.
Tim Doescher is the executive director of Unleash Prosperity and a former George W. Bush White House official.