Why Is the U.S. Restricting Access to Frontier AI?

The U.S. decision to restrict access to some of Anthropic's latest AI models over national security concerns directly affects EU-U.S. cooperation in cyberspace.  Rym Momtaz, Raluca Csernatoni, and Louise Marie Hurel discuss what this means for Europe's strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty. [00:00:00] Intro, [00:01:01] The Securitization of Frontier AI, [00:18:12] Different Access Levels to Frontier AI Models, [00:26:04] Government vs. Public Access to Frontier AI. Raluca Csernatoni, June 23, 2026, “Europe Needs a Strategy for its Turn to New Defense Tech,” Strategic Europe, Carnegie Europe. Louise Marie Hurel, June 22, 2026, “Gatekeeping the Frontier: When AI Access Becomes a National Security Concern,” Royal United Services Institute. Louise Marie Hurel, Elijah Glantz, and Daniel Cuthbert, “Developing a Framework for Secure Third-Party Access to Frontier AI,” Royal United Services Institute. Rym Momtaz, ed., May 7, 2026, “Taking the Pulse: Is it Worth it for Europeans to Placate Trump?,” Strategic Europe, Carnegie Europe. Rym Momtaz, May 5, 2026, “Europeans Are Quiet Quitting the United States,”Strategic Europe, Carnegie Europe. Raluca Csernatoni, April 16, 2026, “The Fog of AI War,” Strategic Europe, Carnegie Europe. Louise Marie Hurel, Pia Hüsch, et al., March 16, 2026, “Brief, Bold, and Beautiful? Reactions on the U.S. National Cyber Strategy,” Royal United Services Institute. Raluca Csernatoni, October 3, 2025, “Corporate Geopolitics: When Billionaires Rival States,” Strategic Europe, Carnegie Europe. Raluca Csernatoni et al., September 1, 2025, “Tech Diplomacy 2.0: Examining the Intersections Between Industry and Governments in International Relations,” International Journal of Cyber Diplomacy. Raluca Csernatoni, June 2, 2025, “Can the EU Achieve its Tech Ambitions?,” Carnegie Europe.