The pre-eminence of the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in regulating the business of data collection, processing and transfer cannot be understated. It has come to serve as the model for laws in several non-EU jurisdictions who share in the EU’s concerns about citizens’ data being harnessed by Big Tech in particular. This article explores the GDPR’s outsized impact in the sphere of data regulation, the conflict between the contrasting models of regulation adopted by the EU and the United States and comments on the possibility of the AI regulations becoming what the GDPR is for data. It further delves into the possibility of this approach being followed by countries like India, where government efforts to integrate AI-based innovation and entrepreneurship have led to the possibility of newer regulatory approaches being adopted.