Europe's AI firms, playing catch-up, challenge US calls for slowdown

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed an antitrust waiver allowing leading AI developers to coordinate on safety measures and voluntarily slow development, citing existential risks
• French startup Mistral and other European firms called the U.S. proposals 'totally self-serving' and designed to preserve American tech dependency, arguing it's time to 'accelerate' rather than slow down
• European policymakers expressed concerns about 'regulatory capture,' with officials emphasizing the region's need for digital sovereignty and to close the technological gap rather than engage in slowdown debates

Summary: Europe's AI Firms Challenge US Calls for Development Slowdown

European AI companies and officials are pushing back against US proposals to slow AI development, accusing American firms of using safety concerns to protect their market dominance.

Key Development: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed that leading AI developers voluntarily coordinate on safety standards and accept oversight by embedded evaluators. He also called for an antitrust waiver to facilitate collaboration, arguing that AI is advancing faster than governments can regulate.

European Response: French startup Mistral, considered Europe's leading hope for developing frontier AI models, rejected the proposal, stating "some incumbents are using this moment to consolidate their market position, pushing for regulation designed to favor them over competitors." Multiple European executives and officials echoed similar concerns about "regulatory capture."

Main Players:

• US companies: Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, xAI
• European firms: Mistral (France, 3 years old), Black Forest Labs (Germany), Hugging Face (French-American), Proton (Switzerland)

Market Implications: Europe currently relies heavily on AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft, creating concerns about technological dependence. European stakeholders argue they need to "catch up on technological backlog" rather than slow development. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure and German officials emphasized the need for digital sovereignty.

Key Quote: Proton COO Raphael Auphan called US proposals "totally self-serving," while Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue stated "It's not time to slow down but to accelerate."

The dispute highlights the competitive tensions in the global AI race, with Europe struggling to develop homegrown alternatives to US and Chinese AI dominance.