Bottom line: OpenAI is set to open a second German office in Berlin, courting Europe’s largest ChatGPT market by subscriber numbers with data privacy commitments and potential local data centers.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a new office in Berlin in an interview with “Handelsblatt” – in addition to the existing location in Munich. For CEOs in Germany, this underscores the strategic importance of the domestic market for the ChatGPT provider.
OpenAI is expanding its presence in Germany. Company chief Sam Altman confirmed plans for a second German location in Berlin in a conversation with “Handelsblatt,” which is intended to complement the existing office in Munich. Altman did not give a concrete opening date, but said this would happen “fairly soon.” He also spoke in favor of building the company’s own data centers in Germany to meet growing demand for AI computing power.
The following is relevant for putting the announcement into context: according to OpenAI, Germany is the largest market in Europe measured by paying ChatGPT subscribers and ranks among the top 3 worldwide. As evidence of its economic significance, Altman cited the collaboration with Deutsche Telekom. For executive leadership, this means that OpenAI is treating the German market not merely as a sales territory but increasingly as a strategic location – with potential implications for sales structures, support, and local points of contact.
On the topic of data centers, Altman reported discussions with German government representatives in Berlin that have so far produced no concrete results. He noted that each country must decide for itself whether to build its own data centers or rent capacity abroad. For companies with data localization or data residency requirements, this question remains open for now and is likely to continue influencing the choice of cloud and AI infrastructure partners.
Altman also addressed concerns regarding the leakage of confidential business data explicitly: OpenAI does not use input from enterprise customers to train future models. For B2B customers, the company offers binding zero data retention, whereby transmitted data is not stored for later analysis. This commitment is relevant for CEOs and CISOs conducting compliance and confidentiality reviews before deploying OpenAI products – however, this statement should be secured contractually, not merely verbally, before sensitive corporate data is processed.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published August 14, 2026
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