EU Commission looking at practical consequences of Anthropic decision, spokesperson says

BRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Sunday that it is assessing the practical implications of a U.S. export control directive impacting artificial intelligence company Anthropic and that measures should not be discriminatory against partners.

Anthropic said on Friday it would "abruptly disable" its most advanced AI models for all users after the U.S. government ordered it to suspend access to the models for foreign nationals, citing national security concerns.

“We are seeing a new generation of highly capable AI models reach the market. These models offer significant benefits, including for cyber-defence, but they also raise serious cybersecurity concerns that need to be addressed,” European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said in a statement.

“We believe that contingency measures taken in this light should not be discriminatory against partners,” he said.

"This development is a further illustration of why Europe needs to strengthen its technological sovereignty,” Regnier said. "We are looking closely at the practical consequences of this for European users of these services.”

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Writing by Lili Bayer)