The latest tech pulse reveals a dramatic shift as Anthropic faces a US blacklist over AI safety guardrails, even as its tools were reportedly used in recent strategic operations.

Meanwhile, the Balkans are booming with a record €398M in venture capital, led by Bulgaria’s deep-tech surge and Romania’s maturing AI scene. In Kosovo, MOO is expanding its Prishtina engineering hub, signaling the region's growing status as a top-tier talent destination.

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The Trump administration has officially blacklisted Anthropic after the firm refused to remove safety guardrails from its Claude AI. CEO Dario Amodei declined to waive prohibitions against using the AI for fully autonomous weapons, leading Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to label the company a national security supply chain risk.

But, despite a Friday ban, Claude was reportedly used hours later during the February 28 airstrikes in Iran that targeted the Supreme Leader. Because the AI was already integrated into tactical networks following the January capture of Nicolás Maduro, the Pentagon utilized a six-month "phase-out" window to execute the operation using Anthropic’s intelligence tools one last time.

In a twist of events, Sam Altman from OpenAI, confirmed a new deal to deploy models on classified networks and Elon Musk’s xAI is being fast-tracked to provide the computational power required by the Department of War. Anthropic on the other hand is preparing a federal court challenge to overturn its supply chain risk designation.

In the traditional rules of engagement, armies targeted oil refineries and power plants. In 2026, the target is the cloud. New details from the recent drone strikes on AWS facilities in the UAE and Bahrain reveal that the internet's neutral backbone is now a primary military objective.

The strikes didn't just hit warehouses; they hit Availability Zones, the massive clusters of servers that power everything from local banking apps to government communications.

Direct hits caused structural fires and forced power shutdowns. Beyond physical server destruction, fire suppression systems (water damage) have further complicated recovery.

Several Gulf-based financial institutions and e-commerce platforms reported immediate outages.

Why Cloud Infrastructure?

For businesses in Southeast Europe and beyond, this is a signal to rethink Digital Sovereignty. If your operations are centralized in one basket, you are vulnerable to conflicts half a world away. Diversification, spreading data across multiple regions and providers, is no longer a tech luxury; it’s a survival requirement.

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Start flowing free

While the broader European tech scene navigates a cautious wait-and-see period, Southeast Europe (SEE) is rewriting the script. According to the latest Venture in Eastern Europe report by How to Web, the SEE region hit a record-breaking €398.3 million in venture capital across 109 transactions in 2025, a massive 40% year-on-year surge.

Bulgaria: The New Regional Powerhouse
The standout performer is undoubtedly Bulgaria, which attracted €233.6 million, accounting for more than half of the region's total investment. Despite a lower volume of deals, the quality over quantity shift is evident. Massive rounds from space-tech firm EnduroSat (€140M) and cargo drone pioneer Dronamics (€30M) signal that Bulgarian startups are no longer just regional players, they are building deep-tech solutions for the global stage.

Romania: Maturing Beyond the Hype
Romania saw a period of stabilization with €103.2 million invested. While the total funding dipped by 20%, the ecosystem is becoming more sophisticated. Strategic bets are being placed on AI and specialized software, highlighted by significant rounds for Druid AI (€27.5M) and veterinary tech platform Digitail (€20M). Investors note that the Romanian market is "outgrowing its training wheels," moving away from broad experimentation toward high-conviction, high-impact AI ventures.

Winners - Serbia and Moldova both recorded growth, reaching €12.6M and €13.4M respectively.

The Laggards - Croatia and Slovenia saw pullbacks, while Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro recorded no notable venture activity for the period.

The Trend - Capital is concentrating in Deep Tech, AI, Enterprise Software, and Fintech.

The Takeaway - The 2025 data confirms a major shift in the SEE ecosystem: the cheap money era is over, replaced by a high-conviction era. Investors are writing larger checks for companies with proven technical depth and global scalability. For the Digjitale audience, the message is clear the next generation of European unicorns is likely to have a Balkan DNA.

While some UK firms are scaling back, design giant MOO is doing the opposite. The company just announced a multi-year renewal and expansion of its partnership with digital agency Loomery, specifically targeting its growing engineering hub in Prishtina, Kosovo.

The partnership, which began in 2023, has moved beyond a simple outsourcing arrangement. Loomery’s Prishtina-based team is now fully embedded within MOO’s core product and technology organization. For MOO, the logic is simple: Kosovo offers a high-density talent pool, perfect time-zone alignment with the UK, and a cultural fit that traditional offshore hubs often lack.

This move cements Kosovo’s reputation as a rising star in the Southeast European tech scene. By focusing on embedded delivery rather than disconnected outsourcing, firms like Loomery are proving that Prishtina can compete with established hubs in Poland or Romania.

The European Commission just took a massive step toward digital integration, proposing formal negotiations to bring Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia into the EU’s Roam Like at Home regime.

If approved, travelers between the EU and the Western Balkans will pay domestic rates for calls, texts, and data effectively treating the region as part of the EU’s digital single market.

For companies like MOO and Loomery (as mentioned above) that operate cross-border teams, the removal of roaming surcharges simplifies logistics and reduces overhead for remote workers and traveling executives.

By removing the connectivity tax, the Western Balkans become significantly more attractive to the global tech workforce, fueling the local startup scenes in cities like Prishtina, Belgrade, and Tirana.

This move signals a deeper political and economic alignment with the EU, providing more certainty for international investors looking to tap into the SEE region's burgeoning tech talent.

Applications for Podim 2026 are officially closing on March 15. The selection process is already moving quickly behind closed doors. If you want to expand your footprint across the European tech ecosystem, you need to apply immediately. Secure your spot at podim.org/startups before the window shuts entirely.

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