Europe scrambles for sovereign AI after US cuts access to Anthropic's models

Europe Confronts Its AI Dependency Crisis

The abrupt US decision to restrict foreign access to Anthropic's most powerful AI models has triggered alarm across Europe, exposing what many officials now describe as a critical vulnerability in the continent's technological infrastructure. The move, which cut off access to models including Mythos and Fable, demonstrated for the first time that Washington could effectively deploy a "kill switch" on AI systems that European governments, hospitals, and businesses had come to rely upon 5

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The EU currently depends on non-EU countries for more than 80% of its technology and 70% of its cloud computing, according to the European Commission and European Parliament 5

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. Meanwhile, the US and China together control roughly 90% of global AI computing infrastructure, leaving Europe with limited capacity to train or run AI models independently, according to AI research firm Epoch AI 2

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Cohere CEO Issues Stark Warning on National Security Risk

Aidan Gomez, CEO of Canadian AI company Cohere, has spent years preparing for exactly this scenario. "I think it's woken everyone up to the reality, which is that centralized dependence on a single entity is a structural risk," he told Fortune. "You can absolutely just have access revoked...and services shut down" 2

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Gomez argues that relying on foreign AI providers represents a fundamental national security risk. "This sentiment of renting AI from someone rather than owning it is a national security risk," he said. "You need to fully control it" 2

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. Speaking at VivaTech in Paris, Gomez warned that without technology built on home soil, "your data, your productivity, your critical industries, your ability to defend yourself, it will be what others allow" 3

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For Gomez, sovereign AI requires physical infrastructure that countries actually control. "Domestically controlled infrastructure is the first piece of the puzzle," he said. "Each country needs an infrastructure champion" 2

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. Cohere already sells its models in a way that lets governments and companies run them entirely on their own infrastructure, with no remote access or ability for Cohere to revoke service 2

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France and Germany Lead Push for European AI Sovereignty

At VivaTech, French and German officials issued a joint call to action, arguing that Europe must move quickly to develop sovereign AI capabilities or risk becoming a spectator in the decade's defining technological shift. Germany's Federal Minister for Digital Transformation Karsten Wildberger addressed the Anthropic shutdown directly: "The suspension of access to the most advanced models makes one thing clear to everyone. This is no longer an access debate; rules can change overnight, and sovereignty means we can still act if things like that happen" 4

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Germany is implementing a national data center strategy with a target of quadrupling AI capacity by 2030, while also working on sovereign cloud infrastructure 4

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. France's economy minister Roland Lescure emphasized that "when France and Germany align, Europe moves," arguing that the next 10 years will be critical 4

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Building AI Champions Through Democratic Alliances

Gomez acknowledges that the dream of fully sovereign AI faces hard constraints around compute, capital, and energy. "Each country can't build its own model, that's the reality we have to face," he said 3

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"It's not the case that every country is going to have each layer of the AI stack inside their own country...instead they need to find multiple partners for those layers," Gomez explained. "If we try to spread our resources, it just won't work. We have to back champions and not spread our bets" 2

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Cohere is putting this philosophy into practice. In April, the company announced it was acquiring Germany's Aleph Alpha, creating a transatlantic AI company with dual headquarters in Toronto and Berlin, valued at around $20 billion 2

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. The deal followed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Artificial Intelligence between Canada and Germany, positioning the merger as a way to put political commitment into commercial practice 2

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Geopolitical Risks of AI Intensify

The incident has made the geopolitical risks of AI impossible to ignore. UK minister for AI Kanishka Narayan said the move had significant implications for defense: "We're seeing again and again the most capable models used in drones, counter-drone defence systems and cyber security -- those are now the fundamental fault line for who wins and who loses in warfare" 5

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A speculative scenario called "Europe 2031," published by Brussels-based thinktankers, imagines a future where Europe's failure to invest in data centers and AI infrastructure leads to economic collapse, surging populism, and the potential end of the European Union 1

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. The scenario, which went viral and was read by members of the European Parliament, warns that Europe could be torn apart by US and China if it continues to lag behind on technological independence 1

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Sandra Wachter, a professor of technology and regulation at the University of Oxford, captured the moment's significance: "This is something that we have always known, but never really felt. Everybody is aware that we are very dependent on technology from the U.S...but we have never quite felt what it's meant to be on the shorter side of the stick -- on the side that actually has to face the kill switch" 5

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Gomez warned of "sovereignty washing," where solutions that don't actually contribute to diversification or resilience are marketed as sovereign 3

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. He emphasized that truly sovereign capability requires "a set of technical guarantees" including infrastructure controlled by a sovereign entity 3

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. Cohere now numbers around 700 staff and is preparing a new fundraising round, with Europe as its second-largest region for revenue behind North America 3

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