Fighting the Brussels Effect Is Futile
American AI and tech businesses can only continue to flourish if the US government cooperates with European digital lawmakers.
Inevitably, European digital laws will continue to have an effect in the United States and shape the behavior of American BigTech companies. Even Donald Trump’s nationalistic approach to business and politics will not be able to fend off the ghostly grip of European non-elected bureaucrats.
It’s not voodoo or magic but simple logic. The US tech giants cannot continue to grow without access to the European market which consists of roughly 450 million similar-minded and relatively tech-savvy consumers. However, to play on European turf, the US tech companies are obliged to follow European rules. This means complying with GDPR, DSA, DMA, AI Act, and other strict legal frameworks that place the rights of the individual above the rights to profits. To the wealthy elite and the current administration of the US government, this prioritization is a nuisance.
The current boom of the US economy is based on the success of its tech companies. Namely Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, now Nvidia, and other tech giants have not just greatly contributed to but completely taken ownership of the global digital economy - at least in democratic countries that have nearly unrestricted access to the web.
Specifically, the economy of the US has succeeded in recent years because of the ability of its private sector to export digital products and services to other parts of the world. We could call it digital imperialism. However, the global and penetrating reach of the US tech companies is not only a great strength for the economy. It also leaves the US economy vulnerable to foreign laws and standards that it has no influence over, and sometimes the price of compliance can be a costly affair. Especially the EU presents a conundrum for the tech giants. The companies cannot afford to lose their presence in the EU market but at the same time they have to abide by the strict European laws, and the laws seem to become even stricter as information technology evolves and the companies mature.
Enter the Brussels effect. The US exports its tech products to the EU, while the EU exports its regulatory standards to the US. BigTech companies are forced to follow the high bar set by European lawmakers, and this compliance work inevitably rubs off on the design of their products. Additionally, the strict EU laws inspire other countries to raise their regulatory standards as well. Instead of resisting this pattern, the American tech authorities should accept it and work with it – not against it.
In the global digital economy, the Brussel Effect is a law of nature. Bemoaning that European digital laws affect US tech companies in 2025 is like bemoaning gravity or that the sky is blue. In the same vein, attempts to police against the Brussels effect are like trying to control the wind or the sun. The Brussels effect is good news for American citizens with left-leaning ideologies who care about the rights of the individual, but bad news for technocrats who think human rights laws are a hoax, outside of the First and Second Amendments.
Ted Cruz, senator of Texas, wrote a letter to the US Attorney General, dated November 21, where he expressed his concern with the EU's regulatory power in the US, namely in the context of AI.
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