UCLA Luskin Professor of Public Policy John Villasenor testified on May 8, 2025, before the U.S. Congress Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet.
Villasenor, who also holds appointments in electrical and computer engineering, management and law at UCLA, was among experts from academia, government and the private sector who joined the Washington, D.C. hearing convened to examine the role of trade secret protection in U.S. artificial intelligence development and countering economic espionage by foreign competitors and nation-states. The panel of experts also commented on protecting U.S. intellectual property as legislation and governmental policy are being developed regarding AI competition, transparency, and other issues.
“America is the clear global leader in AI, a technology that is foundational to our continued economic prosperity and national security,” said Villasenor, faculty co-director of the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law, and Policy at UCLA Luskin. But, he noted, because of that competitive differentiation, the U.S. also is vulnerable in several ways.
Villasenor explained that because American AI companies are so innovative and market-leading, that they are prime targets for trade secret theft. He also cautioned that policy discussions on AI regulation do not provide sufficient consideration to potential collateral damage to trade secret rights, emphasizing that overly expansive transparency rules would undermine AI leadership.
In the global context, he remarked that the preeminence of American AI companies also creates an asymmetry and consequently policymakers outside the U.S. may have less concern than their U.S. counterparts about the collateral damage to trade secrets resulting from AI regulations.
“They will have little incentive to regulate in a manner that preserves the competitive advantage of U.S. AI companies,” Villasenor said.
Watch Villasenor’s testimony (starting after minute 51). Read his testimony.
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