Since the beginning of this year, there has been a tense relationship between American AI startup Anthropic and the Trump administration. In response to this situation, Austria has suggested that the European Union consider allowing Anthropic to operate within its territory, in order to counter the US efforts to prevent foreigners from using the company's advanced AI models.
According to Reuters report on June 29 local time, Alexander Proell, the Austrian Minister for Digital Affairs, emphasized in a letter to Henna Virkkunen, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for matters related to technological sovereignty, that it is crucial to ensure that Europe is not isolated from major innovations.
Let’s discuss together the strategic establishment and cooperation of Anthropic within the EU. There is legal certainty, market access conditions, capital support, and values that align with the company’s philosophy. However, Proll did not specify how this initiative would be implemented in his letter, and also acknowledged that others might have doubts about the feasibility of this idea.
Prooul wrote: 'The real question is not whether this is easy. The question is whether we Europeans are ready to lead the direction of our own technology's future, or are we willing to merely act as executors of decisions made by others.'
Since this year, the Trump administration has repeatedly issued "blocking orders" against Anthropic. (San Francisco Standard Edition chart)
According to reports, Anthropic Company has not responded immediately to requests for comment regarding this proposal from Austria.
Earlier this month, the European Commission proposed a series of legislative drafts aimed at boosting the domestic cloud computing, AI, and semiconductor industries, while reducing reliance on large American technology companies. This move effectively ignored the criticism from the US government regarding the restrictions imposed on American companies by the EU.
At the beginning of this year, due to differences regarding how cutting-edge AI technologies should be used and how they can assist military operations, on February 27 local time, U.S. President Trump ordered all U.S. federal agencies to immediately cease cooperation with Anthropic. However, the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies that use the company’s products will have a six-month transition period.
Additionally, the Pentagon once classified the company as a “supply chain risk entity,” and this designation was previously applied to companies associated with so-called “foreign hostile forces.” Subsequently, Anthropic sued the Trump administration in court.
And earlier this month, the Trump administration took another step by imposing export controls on two of Anthropic’s most advanced AI models.
The newly implemented export controls forced Anthropic to withdraw its new AI model, Claude Fable 5, just a few days after the model was released to the public. Anthropic had promised that the model was secure, but soon after its release, high-ranking government officials began to have doubts about the safety measures of the AI model, believing that these measures were not as robust as the company claimed.
