Sam Altman says he has “many concerns” about the EU's proposed AI Act and OpenAI “will try to comply, but if we can't comply we will cease operating”

ChatGPT chief Sam Altman voices ‘many concerns’ over bloc's planned legislation

Financial Times 2023-05-25

Context & Ripple Effects

Altman had recently told US lawmakers that AI regulation was essential, while arguing rules must remain adaptable—a position that frames his EU objections as a dispute over regulatory design rather than a rejection of oversight. His call for flexible AI rules in Congress provides the immediate policy backdrop.

The episode also became a test of OpenAI's negotiating posture: follow-up coverage reported that Altman walked back the prospect of leaving Europe, while later documents described efforts to reshape how general-purpose AI would be treated in the Act. OpenAI's lobbying on the Act makes the compliance threat consequential beyond rhetoric.

First-order effects

OpenAI must assess whether the proposed obligations can be met without changing its European operations; Altman's statement raises the possibility of service withdrawal if that assessment fails.
EU policymakers gain a prominent industry objection to weigh as they define rules affecting general-purpose AI providers.

Second-order effects

Other frontier-model developers are likely to treat the Act's requirements as a benchmark for their own European compliance planning and public-policy engagement.
The clash increases pressure for clearer, workable obligations: ambiguous rules raise compliance risk for providers and uncertainty for European users of their services.

Third-order effects

If leading AI labs increasingly negotiate access to major markets through compliance commitments and policy advocacy, regulatory capability becomes a competitive asset alongside model performance.
The broader outcome remains unsettled: durable AI governance may depend on whether rules can impose accountability without making market access contingent on bespoke concessions from a small group of providers.

The trend: This is one data point in the shift from voluntary AI-safety pledges toward operational governance in which leading labs must reconcile product deployment with jurisdiction-specific rules.

Discussion

@rachelcoldicutt @rachelcoldicutt on x
I love it when a tech company says, “If you're going to regulate me then I won't play anymore”. It's like the Mean Girls School of Diplomacy in wch everyone competes to be the first person to stop being friends. https://www.reuters.com/...
@sarahoconnor_ Sarah O'Connor on x
Shot/chaser [image]
@billyperrigo Billy Perrigo on x
Also newsy in this piece: Altman told me that in 2024 he plans to become much more vocal on the need for post-AI wealth redistribution https://time.com/... [image]
@lukolejnik Lukasz Olejnik on x
So it begins? The head of OpenAI warns against too strong AI regulations in Europe. The point is that these will be softer in the US. Firms are OK with regulations, ethics, so on, just not too much of it. He warns about withdrawing from Europe. https://www.ft.com/... [image]
@shashj Shashank Joshi on x
‘OpenAI chief Sam Altman has warned that Brussels’ efforts to regulate artificial intelligence could lead the maker of ChatGPT to pull its services from the EU, in the starkest sign yet of a growing transatlantic rift' https://www.ft.com/...
@nicholasvinocur Nicholas Vinocur on x
“The current (EU) draft of the AI Act would be over-regulating, but we hear they might be pulling it back.” - Sam Altman https://www.reuters.com/...
@floridi @floridi on x
I told you: staggering hypocrisy. The surprise is actually the number of people who believed him (remember the letter?) when he said he wanted AI to be regulated: “OpenAI may leave the EU if regulations bite - CEO” https://www.reuters.com/...
@michaelaarouet Michael A. Arouet on x
While others embrace OpenAI the EU is committed to keep Europe on track to become OpenAIR museum. https://twitter.com/...
@drfranksauer @drfranksauer on x
„⁦@sama⁩ said on Wednesday the ChatGPT maker might consider leaving Europe if it could not comply with the upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) regulations by the European" https://www.reuters.com/...
@billyperrigo Billy Perrigo on x
🚨 New: Sam Altman says OpenAI could “cease operating” in Europe if it is unable to comply with the forthcoming AI act, which he said OpenAI has “a lot” of criticisms of https://time.com/...
@shashj Shashank Joshi on x
‘The new [EU] requirement would make the companies that develop the models, including OpenAI & Google, partly responsible for how their AI systems are used, even if they have no control over the particular applications the technology has been embedded in.’ https://www.ft.com/...
@fabiochiusi Fabio Chiusi on x
Altman: “please regulate us!” Also Altman: “if you actually regulate us we may leave the EU” https://www.reuters.com/...
@openai @openai on x
The ChatGPT app for iOS is now available to users in 11 more countries — Albania, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and the UK. More to come soon!
@sama Sam Altman on x
great meetings today in warsaw, paris, and london. and...since i was out of the US, i finally got signed up for worldcoin! [image]
@emmanuelmacron Emmanuel Macron on x
Developing talents and technologies in France, acting for regulation at the French, European and global levels, these are our priorities in terms of artificial intelligence. We discussed this with Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGPT. [image]
@danmurrayserter Dan on x
Wow, gpt4 even making physical travel way more efficient too 👏 https://twitter.com/...
@rishisunak Rishi Sunak on x
Done safely and securely, AI has the potential to be transformational and grow the economy. This evening I met with @sama, @demishassabis and @AnthropicAI's Dario Amodei to discuss how the UK can provide international leadership on AI. [image]
@sama Sam Altman on x
had a great first week of the openai world tour in toronto, DC, rio, lagos, and lisbon. fun to see what people are building and get (lots of) feature requests, and even fun to talk to policymakers! madrid, warsaw, paris, london, and munich this week. [image]
@drkatedevlin Kate Devlin on x
OpenAI are in town on their publicity drive, with Sam Altman speaking at UCL today, and not everyone is impressed! [image]
@sama Sam Altman on x
@paulo170595 @SimonFounder flew to paris, took the eurostar to london
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
“I think Sam Altman is probably someone with a Messiah Complex who wants to push humanity to the precipice.” [image]
@mircomusolesi Mirco Musolesi on x
There were some worries that nobody was going to show up for Sam Altman's talk, but strangely enough that was not the case. [video]
@tomsbristow Tom Bristow on x
Spent the afternoon in a sweaty @ucl lecture hall listening to Sam Altman's v. positive take on the future that awaits us if we get AI right. My piece for POLITICO here: https://pro.politico.eu/...
@doubleeph @doubleeph on x
Something I heard Sam Altman say in Lagos was that they built ChatGPT to let people see how far AI technology had come. Been thinking of the alternative scenario where they don't build a conversational interface and Ai tech just starts popping up everywhere...
@davidiadeleke David I. Adeleke on x
One thing that stood out to me during the Q&A with Sam Altman in Lagos was his statement that Nigeria is the biggest adopter of OpenAI products on the continent. Makes me wonder how many ChatGPT (and DALL-E?) users we have in the country, and what the most common use cases are.
@tychobrahe Tycho Brahe on x
This is a quote from Sam Altman, during an interview about OpenAI. I think his model of the world is missing a few things. [image]
@justin_hart Justin Hart on x
Some folks over in London were protesting OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an event... so I thought it only appropriate to use an AI tool to turn them into clowns. [video]
@gfuterman Gideon Futerman on x
Sam Altman kindly took the time to talk to us, and this reinforced my image of him: a man who is friendly, passionate and genuinely believes he is on a mission to save humanity. [image]
@mhbergen Mark Bergen on x
Sam Altman speaking to sold out crowd at UCL. He mentions Elon as a “mentor” who has been “very helpful.” (Then no follow up question!) [image]
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is on a mini world tour, talking up the benefits of AI and the need for regulation (but not too much). He spoke in London today, while protestors called for pause on the development of hypothetical AGI systems. Here's my report: https://www.theverge.com/... …
@joehas Joe Haslam on x
Report on Sam Altman's visit to @UCL where he was interviewed by @azeem. Sam was met with protestors concerned with the risks of AGI and he spoke with them. https://www.theverge.com/...
@fabiochiusi Fabio Chiusi on x
“He said he wanted to see “something between the traditional European approach and the traditional US approach.” That is, a bit of regulation but not too much” https://www.theverge.com/...
@jennifercobbe Jennifer Cobbe on x
I feel like everything Altman says about AI regulation needs to be accompanied with: Well, he would say that https://twitter.com/...
@smokeawayyy @smokeawayyy on x
Sam Altman: “I think we have lost our collective sense of optimism about the future... I think all of us should act as our duty to bring that back... The only way that I know to return to that sense of optimism...is to use technology to create abundance.” [video]

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