US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told American diplomats to push back against a phrase that has spread through allied capitals since the summer: the tech “kill switch.”
In a cable dated July 16 and reviewed by Reuters, Rubio instructed envoys to counter the idea that Washington can remotely disable American technology abroad, a fear that hardened after the government briefly blocked foreign access to Anthropic’s top models in June and revived European talk of digital sovereignty.
“Pausing narrow uses or requiring a 30-day testing window prior to release of a highly potent new technology is not a ‘Kill Switch,’” the cable reads, according to Reuters’ account of the document.
“There is no government ‘magic button.’” It calls the narrative exaggerated and tells diplomats it fails to capture the nuances of US technology policy.
The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The anxiety has a specific origin. On June 12, the Trump administration barred non-US residents from Anthropic’s most advanced models, Mythos and Fable, on national security grounds, then reversed course within the same month.
