Silicon Valley executives and global policymakers are scratching their heads over US President Donald Trump’s latest crackdown on Anthropic, the artificial intelligence (AI) company behind the powerful cloud model.
Just days after the release of its most powerful upgrades – Cloud Fable 5 and the even more powerful Mythos 5 – the Trump administration imposed strict export controls on Anthropic’s devices on June 12.
Washington cited national security risks from so-called jailbreaking — clever tricks that circumvent AI security rules — which the San Francisco-based tech giant described as minor, exaggerated and also present in rival AI platforms.
Yet with the US Commerce Department effectively banning foreign nationals worldwide from using the model, including Anthropic’s own employees, the firm had no choice but to suspend global access entirely.
Washington’s move comes days after Anthropic filed plans for a public listing in hopes of raising tens of billions from investors, possibly this fall.
Experts, allies shocked by America’s ‘kill switch’
The export ban was sharply criticized by the technology sector.
In an open letter published Sunday, a group of more than 170 tech executives warned that “America’s AI leadership is jeopardized” by depriving cybersecurity defenders of their strongest tools, while China’s capabilities are rapidly advancing.
At the G7 summit in Evian, France, this week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for “broad and inclusive” access to US AI models, while the UK requested an exemption from the ban, which was rejected.
Meanwhile, some European lawmakers described Washington’s ability to shut off access as a “kill switch”, reinforcing the EU’s need to secure its AI sovereignty.
“We will not buy any models made by these companies overnight, you can just flip a switch,” French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Wednesday.
Ad hoc steps highlight US regulatory shortcomings
Risto Uuk, head of European policy and research at the Future of Life Institute, described the US move as “hasty and ill-informed” and called on Washington to establish clear and strong AI rules similar to those being implemented by the EU in August.
“AI safety cannot depend on the goodwill of any one company in any one week,” Uuk told DW.
Washington has typically deployed legal tactics – including legal tools such as export controls – against foreign rivals such as China and Russia.
However, tech experts and policymakers say targeting a US company like Anthropic sets a dangerous new precedent, as it risks undermining investor confidence in the AI boom, stifling innovation and weakening America’s overall technological lead.
Clemens Fuest, president of Germany’s IFO Institute, warned in a research note published Friday that the export ban highlights Europe’s “vulnerability” in AI capabilities and called for the expansion of data centers, chip factories and energy infrastructure within the bloc.
Despite being a major AI user, Fuest said Europe controls less than 5% of the global AI infrastructure, while the US controls 75% and China with 15%.
Anthropic made enemies at the Pentagon
Earlier this year, Anthropic clashed with the US Defense Department after refusing to lift long-standing restrictions on its AI models for mass surveillance of US citizens or fully autonomous lethal weapons systems.
The Pentagon designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk” and threatened to void contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, prompting the cloud-maker to initiate legal action.
Anthropic has built a reputation for being one of the most cautious players in the frontier AI race, taking a security-first approach where models are trained to self-criticize against a set of written principles, known as constitutional AI.
Is Anthropic overly cautious?
AI researcher Pedro Domingos argues that it is Anthropic, not the Trump administration, that is guilty of a dangerous overreach – setting itself up as a self-appointed moral authority.
“They really sincerely believe that AI is a lethal threat,” Domingos, a computer science professor at the University of Washington, told DW. “And they also believe that they should run the world.”
“A lot of their problems with the government is that they seem arrogant [usurp] Acts of a government in itself,” he said.
But will these controversies harm Anthropic’s plans for a public listing?
Anthropic’s IPO plan faces headwinds
Bankers believe the company could raise $30-$60 billion (€26.2-€52.3 billion), making it one of the largest IPOs ever. The company was recently valued at nearly one trillion dollars and is now generating estimated revenues of approximately $47 billion per year.
Yet being targeted by the White House, facing export bans on its flagship models and losing key government contracts is likely to weigh on investor sentiment.
Wall Street is hoping that Anthropic — along with a potential listing for ChatGPT owner OpenAI — can repeat the extraordinary enthusiasm that greeted Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO earlier this month, which raised $75 billion.
According to IPO expert Jay Ritter, the market believes foreign-access restrictions on Anthropic’s top-tier AI models will soon be lifted, meaning the impasse won’t deter investors.
Citing the Kalshi prediction platform, a University of Florida professor said there is an 85% chance Anthropic will announce an IPO before November 1, “a percentage that hasn’t changed much over the past week.”
“There is still huge enthusiasm for AI companies in both the public and private markets,” Ritter told DW.
Sharply criticizing the US action, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told leaders at the G7 summit this week to prioritize international cooperation on AI regulation rather than unilateral action, and urged them to “resist the temptation of division.”
Edited by: Tim Rooks