But EU citizens want good AI models, not EU approved models, and people can use VPN. Because regulatory process kills fast moving business and whatever is rubber stamped by EU bureaucracts and compliance-industrial complex law firms sucking out money by selling snake oil compliance services is already few years behind.
Would you buy a three years old car as a new?
The car market is a great example. The US market has decided it doesn’t want EVs from the biggest EV producer in the world (China), so people are indeed buying cars with older technology than what the new global standard has become thanks to China’s successfully state-sponsored EV market.
It may very well be that the US leads globally in AI, while some markets handicap access and development for internal reasons.
Regardless of how I feel about the price of the old car, I wouldn't buy the new car if it's not legal to drive on public roads.