What if synthesisers only worked in the USA?
The US restricting Claude usage for non-Americans is a major threat.
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Let’s dive into today’s topic:
What if synthesisers only worked in the USA?
Technology with a foreign off switch isn’t really yours.
Why it matters
The US government issued an export control order requiring Anthropic to suspend all access to its latest Claude models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for anyone outside the United States.
I’m writing this on Sunday, June 14. What strikes me is how little coverage this has received in European media.
AI is proving itself as the defining technology of this era. That technology was switched off overnight for the entire non-American world.
At first sight, this might read like an edition that’s far removed from usual fandom-strategy-related topics. But look at it this way:
I’ve used synthesisers as an example before. It fundamentally changed what music could sound like, who could make it, and which ideas could reach an audience. Now imagine those instruments had only ever been available to American musicians, just because the US government decided so. That’s the direction we’re heading.
European creators already depend on US-hosted AI tools for writing, production, visual work, and planning. It’s valuable to start considering where those tools come from.
How it works
The problem the Anthropic suspension reveals is compute dependency. Europe currently controls around 5% of global AI compute. The United States controls roughly 80%.
Last week, European AI scientists published their initiative ‘Europe 2031‘, a five-year scenario about Europe’s impending slide into irrelevance. It’s a great read, and I highly recommend scrolling through the scenario or reading the summary.
Europe has misjudged AI’s speed, scale, and capacity to catch up. These are genuine trade-offs. Building sovereign AI compute at scale takes years and enormous capital. In the short term, reducing dependence on American frontier models means accepting tools that are currently less capable. In the long term, it might mean investing in sustainable data centres and reducing CO2 emissions in other sectors.
Yes, but..
Sovereign AI compute is not something an emerging artist can act on directly. It’s too simplistic to say “just use European AI like Mistral”. Artists should use a range of AI models to develop stronger AI intuition. So what I’m trying to do here is raise awareness of this problem, which was surprisingly overlooked in European mass media.
Take action now
Artists can start by mapping which AI tools they currently use and checking where those tools are built and hosted to understand what they depend on and what would replace them if access changed.
The Europe 2031 initiative is freely available and worth reading, particularly if you work in music or creative industries in Europe.
Your thoughts
Further reading
Europe 2031 (Europe 2031)
Statement on the US government directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 (Anthropic)
Anthropic suspends new AI tools over US government security concerns (BBC)
‘Wake-up call’: Europe reacts to Anthropic halting access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models (Euronews)
European sovereignty in AI requires ugly trade-offs, say experts (Science Business)
Navigating AI beyond the hype in 2026 (The Fanbase Builder)