Despite all the public bonhomie at the G7 meeting in France, world leaders are digesting the disturbing reality that American AI technology effectively comes with a “kill switch” in the wake of export controls instituted by the Trump administration regarding Anthropic’s Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models amid American national security concerns.
The Anthropic export restrictions are likely to accelerate a move away from a reliance on American AI technology toward more home-grown solutions developed under a digital sovereignty umbrella. A key indicator is the decision by France’s DGSI spy agency to cancel its AI contract with Pentagon-favorite Palantir in favor of a French provider called ChapsVision.
“We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in the digital sphere,” said French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu in a social media post. “We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools.”
Germany’s BfV internal security agency also is reportedly adopting ChapsVision, a company that measured revenue in the millions in 2025 as opposed to Palantir’s billions. Germany’s military says it will no longer use Palantir AI tools. And in the UK, Palantir’s contract with the country’s National Health Service is under review. Meanwhile, the European Union unveiled a “tech sovereignty” package on June 3 to develop alternatives amidst fears that American “Big Tech” could be weaponized against Europeans. That EU authorization can be seen as a poll of sorts as it required the approval of 27 nations.
The G7 AI meeting may be remembered for the remarkable presence of AI CEOs at the table alongside G7 leaders, a reflection of just how powerful AI has become in world affairs. Among the AI powerhouses in attendance were OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis in addition to a small army of AI CEOs from France, Canada, Germany, UK and elsewhere.
What’s changed is a previous assumption that sovereign AI development around the world would proceed apace alongside the American tech stack. That view has been completely altered due to the realization that the U.S. will employ a kill switch at its own discretion in a move that amounts to a technological lockout.
The issue already is being framed as a choice between AI sovereignty and digital serfdom by people like Aiden Gomez, CEO of Cohere, a Canadian AI platform developer. “The world can no longer afford the strategic risk of renting its future from centralized providers,” said Gomez in a Fortune article.
An AI kill switch is plainly worrying to those outside the U.S. who would like to see themselves viewed as a “trusted partner” but who are clearly not in the view of the Trump administration. “We use each other’s trusted technology and our financial systems are interconnected,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “We test planes before flying them. The U.S. and EU are world leaders in aviation safety and we can also show the way in AI. I’m looking forward to working with the U.S. on this.”
To be sure, global political leaders and AI executives are not completely in lockstep. French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, sees an increased need for regulation. “No one—neither political leaders nor business leaders—can ignore the impact of AI on our democracies, on our societies. That is why the possibility and the necessity of regulation have now become imperative.”
While the AI industry itself is divided on the need for regulation, G7 AI initiatives focused mostly on what everyone can agree on: making sure that AI and digital environments in general are safe for children. There are also safeguard pledges regarding cybersecurity and biotechnology. All these pledges are voluntary so it remains to be seen whether they amount to a global baseline. The Trump administration generally opposes any AI regulation.
Also swirling about in the digital soup is the trend toward the banning of social media use by children under 16 years old, a move recently made by the UK. And just prior to the G7 meeting, U.S President Trump threatened France with a 100 percent tariff on wine exports to the U.S. if it didn’t rescind a 3% digital services tax that affects American technology companies like Amazon, Meta and Alphabet.
This year’s G7 may have given AI a seat at the table, but the welcome may be far from warm over the long term if it carries a Trump administration accent.
