According to Silicon Republic, Anthropic is opening two new European offices in Paris and Munich and has appointed former Salesforce, Google, and Slack executive Pip White as Head of EMEA North. The company revealed Europe is now its fastest-growing region with large business accounts growing by a factor of ten in just the past year. Headcount in Europe has tripled during the same period, building on Anthropic’s existing Dublin headquarters and offices in Zurich and London. The expansion includes new leadership appointments with Guillaume Princen heading EMEA Startups and Thomas Remy leading EMEA South. Existing European enterprise clients include major names like SAP, BMW, Sanofi, and L’Oreal, showing the company’s enterprise-focused approach.
European enterprise gold rush
Here’s the thing: Anthropic isn’t just dipping toes in European waters—they’re diving in headfirst. A tenfold increase in large business accounts in one year? That’s not just growth, that’s explosive adoption. And it’s happening while other AI companies are still figuring out their European strategy. The timing is interesting too—Europe’s AI Act is creating regulatory uncertainty for some players, but Anthropic’s “responsible AI” stance actually positions them well in a market that values transparency and safety.
Enterprise-first reality
Look at their client list: SAP, BMW, L’Oreal. These aren’t startups experimenting with AI—these are massive, established enterprises with serious budgets and complex needs. And that massive Deloitte partnership they announced last month? That’s 470,000 potential users right there. Basically, Anthropic is betting that enterprise customers will pay for reliable, safe AI while consumers might balk at subscription fees. It’s a smart play when you consider how much businesses are willing to spend on productivity tools.
Regulatory divide
This expansion highlights something bigger happening in the AI world. Anthropic was founded by OpenAI alumni who actually want strong regulation—a stance that’s apparently “drawn ire from the US administration.” Meanwhile, Europe is embracing this approach. So we’re seeing a fascinating split: US regulators wanting more consensus and cooperation, while European markets reward companies that prioritize safety and responsibility. Which approach wins long-term? Honestly, it might not matter—Anthropic is positioning itself to thrive in both environments.
What this means
So where does this leave the competition? Well, OpenAI now has a serious enterprise competitor that’s growing faster in Europe and building deeper relationships with major corporations. And with experienced enterprise leaders like Pip White running key regions, Anthropic isn’t just selling AI—they’re selling business transformation. The real question is whether they can maintain this growth while staying true to their responsible AI principles. Because if they can, they might just become the enterprise AI provider of choice in markets where trust matters as much as technology.
