OpenAI is setting up its tents in Dublin. In doing so, she wants to keep her finger on the pulse of all the new laws that are being discussed in Brussels.

OpenAI is expanding significantly. In June the company announced a new office in London and there will also be one in Dublin. An office in the Irish capital is of strategic value for OpenAI as it gives the company a physical presence on European territory. This does not seem to us to be an unnecessary luxury in the context of the upcoming European regulations hanging over the company’s head.

Because of the many cozy pubs and the Guinness beer, Dublin is not the choice. OpenAI said in the announcement that it was attracted by “the strength of the Irish tech and startup ecosystem.” But the favorable tax rates that the Irish government grants to the big tech giants may also have played a role in the choice of location. It’s no coincidence that Google, Meta, X/Twitter and Microsoft all have a building in Dublin.

Outstretched hand

The OpenAI jobs page already lists nine open positions for Dublin, which also reveals the intention of the new office. OpenAI is not looking for the best engineers to hire in Dublin to be invited to work at its home base in San Francisco, but for workers with legal, diplomatic and communication skills.

In recent months, OpenAI has engaged in a series of disputes with European member states over ChatGPT’s privacy policy. The fact that it is not always clear how OpenAI uses your data to train its models, and that you as a user have no say in this, was sufficient reason for the Italian data protection authority to temporarily ban ChatGPT. OpenAI has now made the necessary concessions to continue offering its popular chatbot.

OpenAI mainly deals with the AI ​​Act, the new legislation passed and approved by the European Commission. Sam Altman has already described these rules as “unworkable” and even threatened to leave Europe. The company is now switching gears and wants to reaffirm its “promise to better serve the European market,” according to the press release. The Dublin office is an outstretched hand to Brussels, but also a watchful eye and ear.

Gospel

Altman isn’t afraid to preach his gospel about artificial intelligence. In a podcast interview with Bloomberg, he said that AI has the potential to eliminate inequality in the world, although the company also warns about the impact of AI on our jobs. He was also allowed to defend his views together with his colleagues from the tech industry at the AI ​​summit in the White House.