Austria is urging the European Union to consider hosting Anthropic, an American AI company, after new U.S. restrictions limit access to some of its most advanced artificial-intelligence models for foreign users. Multiple outlets report that Austria’s State Secretary for Digitalization, Alexander Proell (also spelled Alexander Pröll), has made a written request to the EU to find a way to bring Anthropic within Europe’s borders. The rationale given by Austrian officials is that Europe should not be cut off from major AI innovations and should remain engaged with global developments.
Bloomberg and other reports describe the move as part of a broader geopolitical competition around AI technology, with Austria positioning an EU-based hosting approach as a way to counter U.S. efforts that restrict foreigners from using certain top-tier model access. While details of what “hosting” would entail are not outlined in the summaries, the reports agree that the proposal is unusual and has prompted skepticism, including from officials themselves, about whether it can be implemented. The EU is now the body being asked to evaluate the idea.
