Austria has proposed that the EU should consider hosting Anthropic within the bloc’s borders to counter US efforts to block foreigners from using the AI company’s most advanced models.
In a letter to EU technology commissioner Henna Virkkunen released by the Austrian government, state secretary for digitalisation Alexander Pröll wrote it was important that Europe was not cut off from major innovations.
“Let us jointly explore the strategic establishment and participation of Anthropic within the EU. With legal certainty, market access, capital and a set of values that suits this company,” Pröll said.
He did not say how the step could be taken and acknowledged there would be scepticism about whether it was possible.
“The real question is not whether it is easy,” Pröll wrote. “The question is whether we Europeans are prepared to be the architects of our technological future, or whether we wish to remain mere administrators of decisions made elsewhere.”
Earlier in June, the European Commission proposed laws to boost domestic cloud, AI and semiconductor industries and cut reliance on US Big Tech.