European policy and regulation on artificial intelligence are torn between the priorities of industrial and technology policy, as well as the imperatives of protecting individuals and safeguarding values from the deployment of a technology that poses significant moral, social, legal and other harm. The dilemma faced by policy-makers is not novel; new technologies that promise collective and individual benefits, but present substantial risks have forced reactions from international, regional and national regulators. The different regulatory outputs have all offered some kind of a balance between technology development and technology control. With European and international rule-making on artificial intelligence in full swing, it is necessary to examine—from different perspectives, including those of users in concrete technological contexts—what balance has been struck between the needs of European industry and the public sector, and the needs and imperatives arising from society, and whether the dilemmas faced by regulators have now been addressed at least adequately, without seriously compromising the different key interests involved.