Speaking before G20 countries in North Carolina, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick reported urged countries to balance the need for AI training and innovation, while still protecting artists. Lutnick told the countries to recognize “fair use” or “fair dealing” in AI development.
“We need frameworks that protect creators and inventors whose ingenuity drives our economies without creating the barriers that prevent the next generation of innovators,” Lutnick said.
Here’s his remarks cued up to fair use:
Transcript in relevant part:
The United States proposed statements that reflect these priorities and we’ve worked extremely well together and I’m really proud of the way the group has worked together because these are shared ideals. These are not ideals that are ours or and are limited to America. These are all of our ideas. So our statements they recognize innovation that it depends on an environment where business has the freedom and confidence to invest to compete and to try to commercialize their ideas. * * *
And importantly, it recognizes that intellectual property rights foster and protect innovation. And that of course includes AI innovation. But artificial intelligence is going to change how we invent. It’s going to change how we create, how companies compete, and how entire industries operate. So, we’ve got to protect intellectual property and promote AI innovation, but they’re not competing goals. You can protect intellectual property and promote AI innovation, but that’s the tricky part.
We have to find the way to do both things together. So, they’re two sides of the same innovation ecosystem. A well functioning intellectual property framework can support innovators and creators while preserving the opportunity for AI competition and commercialization. That balance matters because private investment will drive technological progress. AI serves as a powerful tool to enhance human ingenuity but also raises new questions about our traditional view of the inventive process. Right? It’s going to change things. And this is true both for patents and for copyrights for both things because copyrights protect authors.
They protect artists and innovators and creators and existing laws provide important foundations but AI technologies are going to continue to develop. We have to figure out and recognize the interaction between copyright and AI. And that’s going to raise complex questions across all of our jurisdictions.
We’ve got to establish doctrines and make sure we embrace fair use, fair dealing. These are important tools for balancing the interests of creators and innovators. And how those doctrines are going to apply to AI related activities will depend on the facts and circumstances that you each address in your own economies. * * *
We must do both. We need frameworks that protect creators and inventors whose ingenuity drives our economies without creating the barriers that prevent the next generation of innovators because you heard it here today. We need to enhance the next set of innovators because you’ll never be able to stop it.
So, let’s bring it in. Let’s embrace it. Let’s figure it out together. By getting that balance right, AI can drive investment, productivity, and scientific discovery in each of our countries. It will enhance manufacturing. It will enhance economic growth, and it’ll do so across all of our economies. This is the opportunity before us today at this ministerial. and I look forward to stalking about it together with you all because this ministerial is about embracing opportunity and growth in each of our economies.
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Jensen Huang, who later appeared with Lutnick in a fireside chat, said regulations should focus on real-world problem, not on “theoretical harms.” More from Channel News Asia.
Lutnick’s support for fair use in AI training at the G20 coincides with the United States’ Statement of Interest supporting fair use just filed in the lawsuits against OpenAI.
The G20 countries are:
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Turkey (Türkiye)
United Kingdom
United States
European Union
African Union
*South Africa was not invited to the 2026 meeting
