To better coordinate with European stakeholders, OpenAI is joining many other major technology companies in opening its first EU office in Dublin.
The company announced in a press release that the Irish office will be established later this year. This will be the company's second office outside the U.S., following the announcement of a London office in June.
The goal is to strengthen operations, trust, go-to-market, security engineering, and legal activities for the European market from there, the company said.
The company said it chose Ireland because it already has a strong technology and startup ecosystem. Cities such as Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Limerick have shown impressive growth and progress in recent years, the company said. Dublin is also home to many other major technology companies such as Google, Meta, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The fact that Ireland has the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe is also likely to play a role.
Ireland welcomes the investment
The Irish government also welcomes the investment. According to Michael Lohan, CEO of the Irish Development Agency IDA Ireland, OpenAI's choice of Ireland confirms that the country is a recognized hub for the administrative, regulatory, and innovation activities of leading digital companies.
For OpenAI, Ireland's strong connectivity between the private sector, academia, government, and startups was a key factor in their decision, he said. They wanted to enter the region as a good partner and gather feedback from the community right from the start. With the Dublin office, they now have the opportunity to better understand and work with European partners, users, and customers, he said.
European data protection a challenge for OpenAI
That an OpenAI office in the EU would actually happen was not always sure. European data protection continues to be a challenge for OpenAI. There was even talk of OpenAI pulling out of the EU, which the US company later denied.
However, the EU continues to have an impact on the AI company's offering, for example when features such as custom instructions for local markets are distributed later than the rest of the world. Recently, the EU set a direction for the further development of AI with a common position on the AI Act.
