According to a response from the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization to an inquiry raised by Green parliamentary politicians in the Bundestag, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with representatives of the federal government five times last year. This network of contacts began shortly after the new government was sworn in on May 6, 2025.
Altman’s meetings included an initial visit on June 25, where he met with Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU). Further engagements occurred on September 24 with Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), followed the next day by separate discussions with Minister Wildberger and a meeting with Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD). He met with Digital Minister Wildberger again on October 22.
In contrast, the federal government met with the CEO of chip firm Nvidia twice-once represented by Chancellor Merz and once by Digital Minister Wildberger. Chancellor Merz met with the Apple CEO on one occasion. Beyond these, the government confirmed no other meetings with other company CEOs. When the Greens asked about the purpose of these meetings, the government provided vague descriptions: the meeting with Merz was categorized as a “discussion at the company’s request” the meeting with Klingbeil as a “general exchange” and the talks with Wildberger as either a “general exchange” or discussions focused on “digital policy themes”. Furthermore, the Federal Chancellery and Digital Ministry stated to T-Online that they generally do not disclose the content of such dialogues.
Despite the general ambiguity, in September-the same day as Altman’s meeting with Chancellor Merz-OpenAI and the German software company SAP announced a joint cooperation titled “OpenAI for Germany” aimed at application within the German administration. Minister Wildberger praised this collaboration on the same day, calling it a “good signal”.
Green digital politician Rebecca Lenhard told T-Online that “Schwarz-Rot [the governing coalition] apparently has plenty of time for conversations with Big Tech”. She added that the real focus should be on reducing digital dependencies on these very companies, while acknowledging that meetings with a CEO like Altman could be beneficial. However, Lenhard pointed out that the government’s response did not demonstrate that other CEOs from non-European tech giants had comparable access to government officials, stating that “this is precisely what requires explanation”. She demanded that Minister Wildberger disclose why meetings with OpenAI occurred so frequently.
The federal government has prioritized “digital sovereignty” in the digital sector since the start of Donald Trump’s second term in the US. This goal aims to prevent further dependence on non-European technology corporations.
