OpenAI drops 20 policy hacks to force Europe's AI hand

OpenAI isn’t waiting for Brussels to figure out its AI strategy. The company just dropped a new report with 20 concrete policy ideas designed to kickstart AI adoption across Europe. The timing is no accident — the European Commission is days away from unveiling its own ‘Apply AI Strategy,’ and OpenAI wants to shape the conversation before the ink is dry. The report, cooked up in partnership with Allied for Startups, emerged from a first-of-its-kind policy hackathon in Brussels that brought 65 people into a room: EU officials, big enterprise reps, startup founders, economists, and AI specialists. They didn’t just talk. They built proposals.

The ideas range from the practical to the structural. One calls for an Individual AI Learning Account to help workers upskill throughout their careers. Another pushes for an AI Champions Network to drag small and medium businesses into the adoption fold. There’s a pitch for a European GovAI Hub — shared AI resources for the public sector so governments stop duplicating effort. A recurring theme is simplification, including what the report calls ‘Relentless Harmonisation’ to finally make the Digital Single Market something more than a slogan. Martin Signoux, OpenAI’s EU AI policy lead, framed the project as closing the gap ‘between the bloc’s AI ambition and reality.’ That gap is real, and he knows it.

OpenAI has the receipts to prove demand is already there. EU member states rank among the company’s top markets for subscribers, API developers, and business customers. French pharma giant Sanofi is using OpenAI tools to speed up drug development. Startups like Parloa and Pigment are building their businesses on the tech. But OpenAI’s own separate research on ChatGPT usage at work reveals a stubborn truth: adoption is wildly uneven. IT and finance are sprinting ahead, manufacturing shows promise, but plenty of other sectors are still warming the bench. That split between digitally mature industries and everyone else is a direct threat to Europe’s competitiveness narrative — the same one Mario Draghi hammered in his landmark report a year ago.

The report builds on a string of OpenAI’s European maneuvers, from its EU Economic Blueprint to endorsing the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice. The company is playing a long game, pairing policy advocacy with programs like OpenAI Academy, which has already pushed free AI learning resources to over 2 million people. They’re also cutting deals with governments from Berlin to Athens. The subtext here is unmistakable: Europe has spent years regulating AI. The Hacktivate AI report is OpenAI’s polite way of saying it’s time to actually use the stuff, and here are 20 ways to start.