Global Leaders Urge US to Ensure Access to American AI Models

The AI Access Conundrum

At the G7 Summit on Wednesday, world leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced concerns that the U.S. could cut off their countries' access to top American AI models at any time.

Macron's Warning to G7 Leaders

Macron warned G7 leaders and top AI executives — including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — over lunch that if the U.S. 'from one day to the next can turn off the switch,' it could not only harm the economies of European customers but also damage the AI firms themselves.

The Impact of US Export Restrictions

The comments come a few days after the Trump administration blocked Anthropic from exporting its newest Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models on national security grounds. The episode has exposed a risk that many international companies have been grappling with: any company or government that builds on U.S. AI infrastructure now has to reckon with the possibility that access can be revoked overnight, for reasons they may never be told.

The Call for Digital Sovereignty

Prime Minister Modi also said he was concerned about Trump's move to block Anthropic's model, adding that democratic nations must have unfettered access to top AI models to protect critical infrastructure. Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Canadian enterprise AI firm Cohere, said in a statement that 'digital sovereignty is not just about market competition or any one company or nation. It's about who controls the foundational technology that will shape our economic security and national sovereignty for decades to come.'

The Proposed Solution

During the meeting, G7 leaders also discussed the creation of a 'trusted partners' scheme that would grant access for non-U.S. nations to advanced AI models from firms like Anthropic and OpenAI. The goal is to maintain a sort of open trade network that bypasses U.S. restrictions.

The Future of AI Access

Regardless, Macron noted that it would make sense for Washington to back such a scheme and to ensure Mythos access was granted more broadly. Nobody would want to buy U.S. AI access if it could disappear overnight. The comments were made even as Europe and other non-U.S. countries attempt to push for AI sovereignty — an increasingly difficult case to make when American models keep pulling ahead and nobody wants to be left out.