The United Kingdom is actively pursuing artificial intelligence company Anthropic to establish a larger presence in Britain, seeking to benefit from tensions between the AI firm and US military officials, according to a Financial Times report published Sunday.
Government officials in Britain have presented various incentives to Anthropic, including opportunities for expanding operations in London and pursuing a dual stock listing arrangement, the publication reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions.
Neither Anthropic nor Britain’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology provided immediate responses when contacted for comment.
The department’s efforts have received backing from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration, with plans to present these proposals directly to Anthropic’s chief executive Dario Amodei during his scheduled visit in late May, according to the Financial Times.
The courtship comes after US officials placed Anthropic on a national security blacklist, labeling the company as a supply-chain security threat following the firm’s refusal to permit military use of its Claude AI chatbot for surveillance operations or autonomous weapons systems.
Currently, a federal judge has issued a temporary order halting the blacklisting action, while Anthropic pursues a second legal challenge against the supply-chain risk classification.
