Austria’s state secretary for digitalisation, Alexander Pröll, has formally requested the European Union to explore options for hosting the American AI company Anthropic. In a letter to Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, Pröll urged member states to consider “the strategic establishment and participation of Anthropic within the European Union,” as reported by Bloomberg. This request follows a directive from the US Commerce Department requiring Anthropic to restrict access to its advanced systems for foreign nationals due to national security concerns.
The directive led to Anthropic suspending access for all users outside the United States, resulting in a global outage that affected European users. Pröll emphasized the importance of Europe not merely accepting this limitation. “Let us jointly explore the strategic establishment and participation of Anthropic within the European Union,” he stated, advocating for an approach that ensures legal certainty, market access, and alignment with shared values.
Pröll’s proposal centers on offering Anthropic a jurisdiction in Europe rather than simply negotiating for access to its technology. He did not detail how such a proposal could be operationalized, leaving open questions regarding the establishment of a European subsidiary or data residency arrangements. Pröll acknowledged that skepticism might arise regarding the feasibility of the plan, insisting instead on the necessity of securing major innovations for Europe.
The request reflects growing anxiety among EU officials about reliance on U.S. policy decisions. Previous discussions between the European Commission and U.S. officials were aimed at restoring European access to Anthropic systems, revealing the EU’s vulnerability to external policy changes. Austria’s letter challenges the EU’s traditional focus on cultivating homegrown AI companies like Mistral, emphasizing the need for guaranteed access to foreign innovations.
The European Commission has not publicly commented on Pröll’s letter, and any potential action would need to consider complex legal, competition, and security implications. Pröll’s message underscores the reality that Europe’s quest for AI independence is complicated by the fact that access to essential technology hinges on decisions from Washington.
