You can't build large ML models without swaths of data, and GDPR is the antitheses of collecting data. Therefore countries/companies that don't have to abide by it are at an obvious advantage.
If anything this is coming from political elite being convinced that AI research is a critical topic, EU recognizing it's weak because of the self-imposed handicaps and trying to move past that. I'd be shocked if we manage to do anything concrete on the matter TBH.
That statement includes Ursula by the way.