Sam Altman says OpenAI “of course” has no plans to leave Europe, reversing a threat to exit the region if the company can't comply with the EU's upcoming AI Act
OpenAI has no plans to leave Europe, CEO Sam Altman said on Friday, reversing a threat made earlier this week …
OpenAI withdraws its stated Europe-exit contingency, giving current and prospective European users a clearer signal of service continuity.
The company must now treat AI Act compliance as an operational and policy-engagement challenge rather than a condition for leaving the market.
Second-order effects
EU policymakers retain leverage over a major AI provider’s market access, while OpenAI has a stronger incentive to seek workable implementation terms.
Other AI providers confronting the same rules have reason to pursue compliance and advocacy rather than present withdrawal as the primary response.
Third-order effects
If major AI labs continue adapting to regional rules, regulation becomes a durable condition of AI market access rather than an external constraint firms can credibly avoid.
The episode points toward a more state-compatible AI industry, in which access to large markets depends on sustained regulatory engagement and local legitimacy.
The trend: AI labs are increasingly pairing global expansion with region-specific regulatory accommodation, making market access a policy as well as a product challenge.
very productive week of conversations in europe about how to best regulate AI! we are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave.
There is no point in attempting blackmail — claiming that by crafting a clear framework, Europe is holding up the rollout of generative #AI. To the contrary! With the “AI Pact” I proposed, we aim to assist companies in their preparation to EU AI Act 🇪🇺 [Gif: Is that a threat?]
To those who think AGI is upon us: 1. why don't we have level-5 autonomous driving? Any 17 year old can learn to drive in 20 hours of training. 2. Why don't we have domestic robots that can clear the dinner table and fill the dishwasher? Any 10 year old can learn to do that in...…
When your business model relies on theft and you don't like proposed regulations that would expose that theft ... that's a pretty good sign the regulations are on the right track. #OpenAI #AIAct https://www.theverge.com/...
Sam Altman: “How many of you would like us to open source GPT6 the day we finish training it?” Audience: ✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋ ✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋ ✋🖕✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋ ✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋ Sam Altman: “Wow, we are not going to do that!” [video]
Still waiting for tech companies to actually leave highly valuable but increasingly regulated markets (Europe) - rather than posturing, talking about it, then ...staying https://twitter.com/...
Sam Altman in a week: 1. Regulate us please, we are building technology that poses serious risks 2. If the EU regulates us too hard with the AI Act, we'll leave Europe 3. Of course we have no plans to leave Europe https://twitter.com/...
OpenAI: Regulate us! Europe: OK. OpenAI: We don't like the look of those regulations, and may withdraw from Europe rather than comply. Europe: OK. OpenAI: https://twitter.com/...
had a great meeting with Chancellor Scholz this morning and a fun talk at TUM this afternoon, and finally enjoying a quiet moment in a beautiful city [image]