[Blacklisted by the Trump Administration, Anthropic Teams Up with the Pope to Launch a Political and Business Offensive in Europe] According to monitoring by Beating, AI unicorn Anthropic has been comprehensively banned by the Trump administration for refusing to remove safety red lines related to lethal autonomous weapons. Months later, co-founder Christopher Olah appeared alongside the Pope to release the first AI encyclical, marking the official start of Anthropic's political and business diplomacy offensive in Europe. In February, the Trump administration ordered all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic's technology, with the Department of Defense labeling the domestic tech company as a security risk for the first time. Competitor OpenAI swiftly stepped in within hours of the ban, securing a Pentagon defense contract. To escape domestic political pressure, Anthropic has accelerated its shift to Europe. Over the past year, the company's revenue in Europe has surged nearly tenfold. To advance its political strategy, the company has hired former UK Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Liam Booth-Smith to lead its European expansion plans. In Europe, Pope Leo XIV's clear preference for the safety school has provided Anthropic with a strong moral endorsement. In contrast, Peter Thiel, a pro-Trump ally, received a lukewarm response from the Vatican when promoting Silicon Valley accelerationism in Rome. CEO Dario Amodei has planned a trip to Rome to hold high-level talks with Italian political leaders, seeking to deploy data centers in Southern Europe and secure potential investments. He will then travel to London to meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. [Original Link]