Austria Proposes Hosting Anthropic in Europe Amid US AI Restrictions

Austria Proposes EU Hosting for Anthropic

In a letter addressed to EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen, Austria’s State Secretary for Digitalisation, Alexander Proell, suggested that the European Union should consider hosting AI company Anthropic within its borders. This proposal aims to counter efforts by the United States to block foreigners from using Anthropic’s most advanced models.

Proell emphasized the importance of Europe not being cut off from major innovations and urged joint exploration of strategic establishment and participation for Anthropic in the EU, with legal certainty, market access, capital, and values that suit the company. He acknowledged potential skepticism over feasibility but stressed the need to decide whether Europeans are prepared to be architects of their technological future or mere administrators of decisions made elsewhere.

Anthropic has not yet commented on the Austrian proposal. Earlier this month, the European Commission proposed laws designed to boost domestic cloud, AI and semiconductor industries while reducing reliance on US Big Tech, in defiance of criticism from the US government over its industry crackdown.