I think threats of this kind are quite indicative of a general regulatory challenge, which is that every country wants to be the leading country on AI right now, and that doesn't always lead to the best regulatory climate for the citizens of those countries.
There seems to have been some kind of agreement between the Government of the Netherlands and the automobile industry which is developing AI into self-driving cars to not look so closely when they build a factory there, in order to ensure that as a result of building that factory, they will bring jobs and investment to these countries.
I think that the impact of AI and these technologies will be sufficiently transformative that while these large U.S. giants seem quite important right now, that may not be the case in a few years' time. A lot of the time I think the danger is actually the other way around. The public sector has historically invested a lot more than many people are aware of, and a lot of the fortunes of these large well-known companies are based on that. Of course, in political terms, it always looks more attractive to have Google, Facebook or Tesla as part of your local industries, because this also sends a political message.
I sense that this is part of the challenge that has led regulators down the path where we have real regulatory gaps. I would also caution from expecting just information commissioners or privacy regulators to be able to respond to this. It's also media regulators, people responsible for elections, people responsible for ensuring that, on a day-to-day basis, competition functions.
All of these regulators are heavily challenged by new digital technologies, and we would be wise as a society to take a step back and make sure they're really able to do their job as regulators, that they have access to all of the relevant data. We may find that there are still regulatory gaps where we possibly need even additional regulatory authorities.
There, I think the danger is to say we just want progress; we just want innovation. If you do that a few times and keep allowing that to be a possibility.... It doesn't mean that you have to say no to people like Facebook or Google if they want to invest in your country, but if you start getting threats like this, I would see them as exactly what they are: a futile attempt to resist the change that is already coming.