Austria urges EU to consider hosting Anthropic

Austria is pressing the European Union to consider hosting Anthropic within the bloc as a response to U.S. efforts to block foreigners from using the AI company’s most advanced models, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

In a letter released by the Austrian government, State Secretary for Digitalization Alexander Proell urged EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen to explore the “strategic establishment and participation of Anthropic within the European Union.” Proell said Europe should offer legal certainty, market access, capital and values suited to the company, while acknowledging skepticism over whether such a move would be possible.

Proell framed the issue as a test of Europe’s technological sovereignty, saying the question was whether Europeans wanted to shape their own technological future or remain “mere administrators of decisions made elsewhere.” Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The proposal follows European Commission plans to strengthen domestic cloud, AI and semiconductor industries and reduce reliance on U.S. Big Tech despite criticism from Washington.