Europe is trying to break the passive situation in response to the US measures restricting foreign access to advanced artificial intelligence models. The Austrian government has recently publicly put forward a forward-looking proposal, urging the EU to consider strategically introducing the US large model unicorn company Anthropic within its territory.

Alexander Proll, the Austrian State Secretary for Digitalization, emphasized in a letter to the EU Commissioner for Technology that it is crucial to ensure Europe is not isolated from major global innovations. He proposed that the EU could provide legal certainty, market access, and sufficient capital support for Anthropic, thus building a technology ecosystem highly aligned with both parties' values.

Seeking Digital Sovereignty, Europe Does Not Want to Be an "Implementer"

Although this proposal faces many doubts regarding its feasibility, the statement by Austrian officials demonstrates Europe's determination for technological self-reliance. Proll stated that the real issue is not whether the path is easy, but whether Europeans are ready to be the creators of their own technological future.

In fact, the EU has recently introduced a series of laws aimed at boosting the domestic cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and semiconductor industries, in an effort to reduce reliance on US tech giants. Although these actions have triggered criticism from the US about suppressing its technology industry, Europe clearly prefers to firmly hold digital sovereignty in its own hands.