OpenAI CEO Tours Europe to Shape AI Rules While Threatening Exit
Sam Altman travels across European capitals to meet with lawmakers and advocate for favorable AI regulations. The OpenAI CEO simultaneously warns that the company might leave the region if rules become too strict.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman travels across Europe this week to meet with regulators and advocate for favorable artificial intelligence rules. This tour follows his recent testimony before U.S. lawmakers where he calls for an international regulatory body for AI. However, his actions in Europe show a familiar Big Tech pattern where leaders claim to support regulation but push back against any strict rules they do not write themselves.
Altman makes stops in Spain, Poland, France, and the U.K. to hold high-profile meetings with heads of government. He specifically targets Spain first because the country takes over the rotating presidency of the European Council this summer. This timing gives Spain significant power to shape the final negotiations of the bloc's comprehensive AI rulebook.
Alongside these diplomatic photo opportunities, Altman publicly warns that OpenAI could pull its business out of Europe if the proposed regulations prove too burdensome. These dramatic threats lack subtlety as he attempts to influence the legislative process. European leaders express enthusiasm for AI development but maintain that the technology must respect democratic values and fundamental rights.