Austria is pushing the European Union to consider hosting Anthropic on European soil, in a direct response to US export restrictions that blocked European users from accessing two of the company’s most advanced AI models.
The Letter
In a June 28 letter to EU Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen, Austrian State Secretary for Digitalization Alexander Pröll called on EU member states to jointly explore “the strategic establishment and participation of Anthropic within the European Union.” Pröll offered “legal certainty, market access, capital and a set of values that suits this company” as reasons for Europe to act.
What Triggered It
The proposal follows a June 12 US export control directive that suspended global access to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 — the company’s most capable AI models. The US government cited national security concerns, effectively cutting off European businesses and researchers from the tools overnight.
The Trump administration partially lifted restrictions on Mythos 5 on June 26, granting access to roughly 100 US critical infrastructure companies and government agencies. Fable 5, however, remains suspended globally.
Long Odds
Pröll himself acknowledged “scepticism about whether it was possible.” Analysts have flagged significant obstacles: Europe cannot match US investment levels, Anthropic is preparing for a domestic IPO, and Washington would likely resist any attempt to relocate a company it considers strategically significant. Anthropic has not publicly responded to the proposal.
Even so, the letter captures a growing anxiety in Europe about its dependence on US-controlled AI infrastructure — and how quickly that access can disappear when geopolitical tensions rise.