Over 750 million people now use ChatGPT every week, and Germany has just become the first country in the world to secure a sovereign version of it. Recently, Nico Rosberg had a chance to talk about it directly with Sam Altman in Berlin.
Nico Rosberg is founder of Rosberg Ventures. He was the F1 World Champion in 2016 and is a Sustainability Entrepreneur-Angel Investor.
What does this mean?
In a landmark partnership between OpenAI and SAP (through its subsidiary Delos Cloud) and supported by Microsoft Azure, Germany will have a fully sovereign AI infrastructure. This means public institutions and regulated industries can finally use advanced AI while ensuring that data, compliance, and innovation stay within national borders.
This is a major step for AI governance and adoption – a model that could soon spread across Europe.
What this means in practice
- AI tools that fully meet EU data protection standards, vital for sectors like climate, health, and mobility.
- A trusted national framework to develop and deploy AI “in Germany, for Germany.”
- New opportunities for public-private partnerships that are compliant from day one.
Nico Rosberg met Sam Altman recently at the Axel Springer Award in Berlin, and they spoke about the balance between innovation and responsibility. Rosberg gifted Altman his Formula 1 World Champion helmet replica – a personal symbol of safety. Years ago, overconfidence behind the wheel led Rosberg to a 300kph crash that changed how he thinks about risk.
He believes that it is the same with AI: progress without protection can be catastrophic.
Rosberg shared, Altman’s willingness to openly warn about the dangers of AI – and to push for global guardrails even when it might slow growth – is rare in tech leadership. Germany’s new sovereign AI model reflects that same philosophy: go fast, but stay safe.
