Anthropic, the US-based artificial intelligence startup, opened a Milan office on Thursday, its sixth location in Europe. The move is part of a broader continental expansion under which the company plans to triple its international workforce.
Chris Ciauri, Anthropic’s managing director for international affairs, said the expansion is driven by growing global demand for the company’s Claude large language models. The firm already maintains offices in Dublin, Zürich, Munich, Paris and London.
On London operations, Ciauri said roughly 200 people currently work in the British capital and that the company intends to grow that number to about 800. Significant headcount increases are also expected in Paris and Munich, and additional European offices are planned. Ciauri did not disclose specific staffing targets for the Milan office.
Focus and local partners in Milan
The Milan office will initially concentrate on sales, marketing and technical support for customers. Anthropic’s Italian partners include major firms such as the insurer Generali, financial group Unipol, tyre maker Pirelli, technology company Bending Spoons and payment service Satispay.
Ciauri said Italy’s economic structure fits well with Anthropic’s strengths, making Milan an attractive strategic location.
Regulation, ethics and political engagement
The Milan workplace will include regulatory and policy experts given the active public debate around the ethical implications of artificial intelligence. Anthropic advocates for involving governments and ethical bodies in shaping rules for the technology.
Christopher Olah, a co-founder of Anthropic, was the only representative from a major tech company invited to the presentation of Pope Leo’s first encyclical on the challenges of artificial intelligence — a fact Ciauri cited as a sign that Anthropic has become a recognized voice on AI safety and ethical development.
The company has also clashed with the Trump administration, insisting on restrictions on military uses of its models. Those limits, Anthropic says, encompass issues such as targeting for autonomous weapons systems and domestic surveillance.
Conclusion
The Milan opening underscores Anthropic’s push to expand throughout Europe in response to rising demand for its Claude models, with substantial hiring planned in multiple cities and a continued emphasis on regulatory and ethical engagement.
