Europe pushes AI sovereignty as G7 hosts tech leaders

Anabelle Colaco
20 Jun 2026, 00:40 GMT+10

Some of the world's most influential artificial intelligence executives gathered in France on June 17 as governments and policymakers increasingly debate how to reduce dependence on American technology companies
The discussions took place alongside the Group of Seven summit, where AI was set to feature prominently on the final day of meetings after global leaders spent much of the week focused on conflicts in Iran and Ukraine
The debate intensified after Anthropic suspended access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, following a Trump administration order citing national security concerns

PARIS, France: Some of the world's most influential artificial intelligence executives gathered in France on June 17 as governments and policymakers increasingly debate how to reduce dependence on American technology companies and strengthen domestic AI capabilities.

The discussions took place alongside the Group of Seven summit, where AI was set to feature prominently on the final day of meetings after global leaders spent much of the week focused on conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.

Among those attending a working lunch on "Ensuring a safe, rapid and effective deployment of artificial intelligence" were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

They were joined by leaders from smaller AI firms including Canada's Cohere AI, France's Mistral, Germany's Black Forest Labs, Italy's Domyn, Japan's Sakana AI and U.K.-based Synthesia.

The gathering comes as concerns grow in Europe about the concentration of AI power among a handful of U.S. companies. Earlier this month, the European Commission unveiled a technology sovereignty package aimed at strengthening homegrown AI capabilities, while Pope Leo XIV recently called for stronger oversight of artificial intelligence.

The debate intensified after Anthropic suspended access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, following a Trump administration order citing national security concerns. The restrictions barred non-Americans, both inside and outside the United States, from accessing the models and led Anthropic to suspend service globally.

The move raised questions about the risks countries face when relying on foreign AI infrastructure.

The episode highlighted how Europe, Canada or other countries "can be put in an extremely vulnerable position" if they get cut off from advanced AI models, said Zach Meyers, director of research at Brussels-based think tank CERRE.

"There is a general anxiety about the state of Europe, the fact that we're relying on other countries for quite important strategic infrastructure and a desire to do something about it, whatever that is," Meyers said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also pointed to the Anthropic case as evidence of the need to diversify access to AI technology.

Sovereignty requires "unhindered access to AI," he said during a visit to Dublin before attending the G7 summit.

Canada recently announced plans to help middle powers and like-minded nations develop alternatives to the world's largest AI providers. The initiative comes as countries seek to balance the economic benefits of artificial intelligence with concerns about security, regulation and technological dependence.

French President Emmanuel Macron has long championed digital sovereignty, with his government promoting domestic technology solutions and encouraging greater independence from foreign platforms.

The G7 includes France, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Brazil, India, Kenya and South Korea were among the guest nations invited to participate in some discussions.