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- The European Commission confirmed separate talks with OpenAI and Anthropic, with OpenAI offering model access upfront while Anthropic’s meetings haven’t reached that stage yet.
- The EU is pursuing voluntary engagement under its AI Act, while the White House considers mandatory pre-release government review of powerful models.
- No public timeline exists for either discussion, and it’s unclear if they’ll produce formal evaluation agreements.
On Monday, the European Commission said it is talking to OpenAI and Anthropic about their AI models, but the two conversations look nothing alike.
Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the Commission in Brussels, told reporters that OpenAI was the first to offer access to its newest model. The Commission called the move proactive.
Anthropic, on the other hand, has met with officials four or five times, but model access hasn’t come up yet.
“With one (OpenAI), you have a company proactively offering to give access to the company. With the other one (Anthropic), we have good exchanges though we’re not at a stage where we can speculate on potential access or not,” Regnier said during the briefing.
Governments are tightening the circle around frontier AI
The timing isn’t random. Governments everywhere are paying attention to advanced AI systems.
This year, the EU’s AI Act began to take effect. It’s rolling out in stages. The regulation provides risk-based rules for AI providers working in Europe.
Companies are not required to give the government models to look over before putting them on the market, but it’s clear that the Commission wants to know more about what’s coming.
OpenAI and Anthropic are the two biggest American companies working on cutting-edge AI.
Their AI systems keep getting more capable, and regulators are scrambling to figure out what that actually means.
The Commission’s audiovisual service listed the OpenAI and Anthropic discussion under “Cybersecurity” on the May 11 midday briefing agenda. It’s listed alongside defense policy and migration.
Washington is moving toward mandatory pre-release checks
While Brussels talks, Washington might mandate.
The White House is considering a plan to review the most powerful AI models before they go public.
That idea gained steam after Anthropic held back broader access to its latest model, Mythos, when internal tests showed it could find exploitable software bugs at scale.
The UK AI Safety Institute ran into similar stuff in April when it evaluated OpenAI’s GPT-5.5.
The model reverse-engineered a custom virtual machine and solved a complex challenge faster than a human expert, according to findings Cryptopolitan previously reported.
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FAQs
What did the European Commission announce about OpenAI and Anthropic?
Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the Commission, confirmed on May 11 that the EU is having separate talks with both companies. OpenAI proactively offered access to its new AI model, while Anthropic has held four or five meetings with officials but hasn't gotten to the topic of model access yet.
Why is the EU engaging directly with AI developers now?
The talks come as the EU enforces its AI Act. Recent findings showed that models from both OpenAI and Anthropic demonstrated advanced cybersecurity capabilities, including the ability to exploit software vulnerabilities. This made officials worry about safety.
How does the EU's approach differ from what the US is considering?
The EU is pursuing voluntary discussions with AI companies under the AI Act framework. The White House is weighing mandatory pre-release government review of the most powerful AI models before they reach the public.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
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