US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on 2 September urged G20 nations to protect intellectual property (IP) rights while simultaneously enabling artificial intelligence (AI) to thrive, cautioning that countries failing to safeguard the interests of both domestic and foreign innovators risked forfeiting investment and economic opportunity. He made the remarks while opening the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The Core Argument: IP and AI Are Not at Odds

Lutnick pushed back against the notion that protecting intellectual property and accelerating AI development are inherently conflicting goals. “You can protect intellectual property and promote AI innovation, but that’s the tricky part. We have to find a way to do both things together,” he told delegates. He framed the two objectives as “two sides of the same innovation ecosystem,” arguing that a functioning IP framework could shield creators while preserving space for AI competition and commercialisation.

“That balance matters because private investment will drive technological progress,” Lutnick said. He described AI as a powerful instrument for amplifying human ingenuity, while acknowledging it was raising fundamentally new questions about traditional approaches to invention.

Patents, Copyright, and the Fair Use Question

Lutnick addressed both patent and copyright dimensions of the AI-IP challenge. “Copyrights protect authors, they protect artists and innovators and creators and existing laws provide important foundations that AI technologies are going to continue to develop,” he said. He called on governments to determine how doctrines such as fair use and fair dealing would apply to AI-related activities, acknowledging that answers would vary across jurisdictions depending on local facts and circumstances.

“We have to figure out and recognise the interaction between copyright and AI, and that’s gonna raise complex questions across all of our jurisdictions,” he added. The Commerce Secretary also stressed the importance of trade secret protections, saying they were essential to fostering research, development, and competitive markets.

Reciprocal Protection: A Warning to G20 Members

Lutnick was pointed in his message on reciprocity. He urged every G20 economy to extend IP protections to foreign innovators entering their markets — not just to domestic players. “You have to protect your own. But if you’re going to protect your own, you have to protect others coming into your market. It has to be both,” he said. “And if you don’t do both, you’ll be left with less opportunity than you would otherwise have.”

This framing carries particular relevance for economies where enforcement of foreign IP rights has historically been inconsistent, and where AI development is expanding rapidly alongside domestic regulatory gaps.

The US Position and G20 Context

The United States proposed statements at the ministerial reflecting priorities including support for private sector-led standards, domestic manufacturing, and intellectual property rights. The ministerial’s broader agenda, according to Lutnick, would cover policies to promote innovation, accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen supply chains, and build confidence in emerging technologies.

The G20 comprises 19 countries, the European Union, and the African Union. India is a member of the grouping and held its presidency in 2023, the year the African Union was admitted as a permanent member. As AI regulation moves up the global policy agenda — with the EU’s AI Act already in force and several G20 nations drafting their own frameworks — the outcome of this ministerial could shape the baseline for international IP-AI norms.

Lutnick’s closing message was unambiguous: “Getting that balance right could allow AI to boost investment, productivity, scientific discovery, manufacturing and economic growth across G20 economies.”