European AI developers, including Mistral, have rejected calls from US-based Anthropic to slow down the development of advanced artificial intelligence models. Mistral executives argued that American competitors are leveraging safety concerns to solidify their market dominance and gain a competitive advantage through regulation.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei previously proposed that labs should decelerate progress and requested a relaxation of antitrust laws to facilitate collaborative safety standards. This initiative received support from figures like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, but European companies remain skeptical of the motives behind these proposals.
Proton representatives stated that Anthropic's push for slower development is driven by self-interest to maintain user reliance on its services. Meanwhile, Hugging Face advocated for faster innovation while supporting the inclusion of independent auditors within AI laboratories to oversee safety protocols.
European officials and companies expressed concern that allowing a few large firms to define safety standards and select their own auditors does not constitute effective regulation. European Commission representatives emphasized that existing regional norms are sufficient to address risks while pursuing digital sovereignty.
