Anthropic Halts Foreign Access to Flagship AI Models Over U.S. National Security Order, Sparking European Alarm on Tech Sovereignty
Late on June 12, U.S. AI firm Anthropic released an official statement confirming it had received an official letter from the U.S. administration, ordering the company to block foreign users from accessing its two most powerful large language models……
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U.S. Government Mandates Shutdown of Top-Tier AI Models
Late on June 12, U.S. AI firm Anthropic released an official statement confirming it had received an official letter from the U.S. administration, ordering the company to block foreign users from accessing its two most powerful large language models, Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5, on national security grounds. The company announced it would immediately disable global access to both systems to comply with federal regulatory requirements.
U.S. authorities argued the advanced capabilities of Fable 5 and Mythos 5 pose security risks, including the ability to bypass safety guardrails and rapidly uncover critical software vulnerabilities. Unable to reliably filter users by nationality across its global client base, Anthropic opted for a full universal suspension of the two models, while all other standard Claude products remain operational.
France and Europe Outraged, Politicians Flag Critical AI Sovereignty Risks
By June 13, the unilateral U.S. export control measure triggered fierce backlash across France and wider Europe, igniting urgent political debates over digital and artificial intelligence sovereignty.
Bruno Retailleau, former French Interior Minister and candidate in the 2027 French presidential election, published a stark warning on social platform X. He stressed that nations reliant on foreign AI technology face the constant risk of sudden service cutoff, and called for drastically increased state funding and policy support for domestic European AI champions such as France’s Mistral AI.
Other major French political figures swiftly echoed his stance:
- Jordan Bardella, President of the National Rally, labelled artificial intelligence foundational critical infrastructure essential to national sovereignty.
- Édouard Philippe, former French Prime Minister, echoed calls to accelerate independent European AI industrial capacity to eliminate reliance on U.S. tech platforms.
Broader European Concerns Over One-Sided U.S. Tech Control
European policymakers and analysts noted this marked an unprecedented shift in U.S. tech export policy: previously Washington restricted AI chips and development hardware, but had never directly ordered U.S. AI developers to cut off overseas users from finished large models.
European commentators highlighted the incident as a wake-up call. They warned over-reliance on American AI systems leaves European governments, businesses and public services vulnerable to arbitrary unilateral U.S. administrative orders, and reinforced demands for scaled investment in regional indigenous AI ecosystems, unified EU AI industrial policies, and cross-border European computing infrastructure to achieve strategic autonomy.
