European AI firms reject US rivals' call for slowdown as catch-up race intensifies

Europe's leading AI firm Mistral and others accused US rivals of using safety concerns to entrench dominance, rejecting Anthropic's call for a slowdown as Europe struggles to catch up in AI development. Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei urged firms to slow capability improvements and seek an antitrust waiver for joint safety measures, citing existential risks. European startups called the move "totally self-serving," arguing it would chill open innovation and preserve US dependency. Europe relies heavily on US models from OpenAI, Microsoft, and others, with Mistral seen as its best hope for a frontier model. Some European leaders endorsed independent evaluators but stressed the need to accelerate, not pause, development.