World leaders want American AI. They just don’t want America to be able to turn it off.

International leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have expressed concerns that the U.S. could unilaterally restrict access to its leading AI models. This fear was heightened after the Trump administration blocked Anthropic from exporting its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models. Macron warned that such actions could harm European economies and the AI firms themselves.

The incident with Anthropic highlighted a significant risk for international companies and governments relying on U.S. AI infrastructure: the possibility of access being revoked without warning. Cybersecurity experts noted that the capabilities cited for blocking Anthropic's models are present in other freely available models, raising questions about the fairness and consistency of such restrictions.

Aidan Gomez, CEO of Cohere, emphasized that reliance on a few major tech companies is dangerous for resilience and digital sovereignty. He stressed that control over foundational technologies like AI will shape economic and national security for decades. This sentiment underscores the broader geopolitical implications of AI development and access.

In response, G7 leaders discussed a "trusted partners" scheme to grant non-U.S. nations access to advanced AI models, aiming to bypass U.S. restrictions and maintain an open trade network. However, the extent and effectiveness of such a scheme for smaller entities remain unclear, and the need for American AI is still high, with other countries striving for AI sovereignty.