The US decision to ban non-US citizens from using Anthropic's software highlights the tensions surrounding the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). Whilst this ineffective measure serves to monopolise AI for military purposes, international consultation at the highest level is needed to regulate these developments. The European Union must strive to learn from this. It must strike the right balance between the essential rules that protect people's fundamental rights and those that should be scrapped, as they impose an administrative burden on start-ups and slow them down. Europe's real challenge is not scientific but financial. The task, therefore, is to step up support for innovation whilst keeping the common good as a priority.