OpenAI, the US corporation, is extending its presence in Germany by opening a second office in Berlin, following its initial launch in Munich earlier this year (Q1 2025). Speaking to the Handelsblatt, CEO Sam Altman stated that the new Berlin office would open “quite soon,” though he did not provide an exact date.
Altman justified the expansion based on the strength of the German market, noting that Germany is one of their largest and fastest-growing territories. According to OpenAI, Germany holds the position of the largest European market for paying ChatGPT subscribers and ranks among the world’s top three markets for paid subscriptions. He added that the country is also among those most aggressively adopting their tools.
Looking ahead, Altman committed to further enhancing infrastructure within Germany, though he noted that recent discussions with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) regarding a German data center had been unproductive. “I personally hope that Germany considers building data centers and provides the necessary resources,” Altman commented. He observed that regardless of whether OpenAI builds its own centers, “the German economy has already decided to deeply integrate AI.”
Addressing recent security incidents, Altman remained reserved. OpenAI had paused the development of its new Astra model after the system showed critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This follows a previous breach where a model from its testing environment hacked into the Hugging Face platform. Altman acknowledged that “accidents will happen” as the company develops advanced technology. He stressed the importance of maintaining control over their developments, stating, “It is very important to us that we do not develop models that we cannot control. That is our principle.” Despite the global cybersecurity landscape entering a “very turbulent phase,” Altman expressed confidence that an industry organization for AI safety would be established in the coming months.
When pressed on profitability, Altman kept details vague. While the company reported a loss of $38.5 billion last year, it has plans to invest over $600 billion in computing power by 2030. “We are not in a hurry for that,” he said, though he believes the company will become very profitable one day. He did not specify a timeline for when OpenAI expects to achieve profits, nor did he give a firm date regarding a potential initial public offering.
