Speaking at the Technical University of Berlin on Friday 7 February, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stressed the need for Europe not to be left behind in the artificial intelligence (AI) race, and warned the continent against excessive regulation that would hold back innovation. “We will obviously comply with the rules, but I think it’s in Europe’s interest to embrace AI and not fall behind the rest of the world,” said the CEO of the company behind ChatGPT.

These comments come as the European Commission has just clarified the terms of application of the and the first regulatory framework of its kind in the world.

From 2 August, Brussels will be able to ban certain AI tools deemed sufficiently dangerous and impose financial penalties on companies that fail to comply with the new rules. The EU is thus going in the opposite direction to the United States, where president Donald Trump deregulated the sector as soon as he entered the White House and announced a plan to invest $500bn in AI-related infrastructure.

A foot in Germany

Altman was also speaking in Berlin because OpenAI has just announced the forthcoming opening of an office in Munich, its first in Germany. According to the business daily Handelsblatt, the move, scheduled for 2025, reflects the Californian firm’s growing interest in the European market. In addition to its offices in New York and Singapore, it has sites in Paris, Brussels and Dublin.

“Germany has become a global pioneer in the introduction of AI,” Altman told the German newspaper. “From manufacturing to retail to startups, German companies using our AI are already seeing significant increases in productivity and innovation.”

At the same time, the company on Thursday announced that it would allow its European customers to store the data from their conversations with its chatbots within the European Union, rather than in the US or elsewhere. The move is designed to address growing concerns about digital sovereignty and data protection.

This article was originally published in .