You could look at it that way. When I look at it, I see the leader walking down a bad path and those trailing behind still have the chance to take a different path. Just because the US ran “ahead” doesn’t mean the world should follow them off a cliff, even if they are screaming “wow, these AI waifus are so cool”. Much of AI isn’t explicitly progress, just change that has been framed as progress through the use of propaganda. If it’s a regressive change, not moving fast could actually result in the EU getting ahead, like a reckless rock climber picking a bad line and falling back down to the last anchor while a careful climber avoids that route.