SAP SE and OpenAI have joined forces to bring advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to Germany’s public sector with the launch of “OpenAI for Germany,” a sovereign AI initiative set to roll out in 2026.
This collaboration will blend SAP’s expertise in enterprise applications and business AI with OpenAI’s cutting-edge AI technology, which will then be supported by SAP’s subsidiary, Delos Cloud, which runs on the Microsoft Azure Infrastructure.
The Delos Cloud platform will be expanded to host up to 4,000 GPUs dedicated to AI workloads, which guarantees performance and compliance tailored to the public sector’s needs.
More importantly, the OpenAI for Germany program, supported by the “OpenAI for countries program,” is designed to meet Germany’s stringent data sovereignty, security, and legal standards, enabling millions of public sector workers to harness AI safely and efficiently.
The collaboration between SAP SE and OpenAI, with Microsoft as a third partner, aims to use AI to revolutionize the public sector in Germany and boost efficiency across government agencies, administrations, and research institutions.
For Microsoft, the tech giant’s role in the collaboration is to ensure technical robustness and compliance with sovereignty requirements.
“Azure as the platform for Delos Cloud will power this, helping to ensure AI is deployed with the highest standards of sovereignty, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience – empowering public institutions to adopt AI confidently and responsibly,” Microsoft Chairman and CEO Saya Nadella said in a statement.
The country’s ambitious national AI strategy further aligns and complements the launch of the OpenAI for Germany program. The German government’s High-tech Agenda has set a target for AI to achieve and contribute 10% to the country’s GDP by 2030, which is also a transformative economic objective supported by major industrial initiatives, including the “Made for Germany” investment program.
Launched in July 2025, the Made for Germany initiative was endorsed and supported by 61 German companies and investors who pledged about €631 billion over three years to strengthen Germany’s economy and competitiveness, focusing on infrastructure, digitization, as well as research and development.
SAP CEO Christian Klein highlighted the importance of combining SAP’s capability as the world’s largest provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and a major player in business AI, with OpenAI’s leadership as a provider of world-class technology.
“Applied AI is what truly creates value. As a Business AI company with decades of experience serving public sector organizations, we believe OpenAI for Germany represents a huge step forward,” Klein said in a statement. “We’re bringing together SAP Sovereign Cloud expertise with OpenAI’s leading AI technology to pave the way for AI solutions that are built in Germany, for Germany.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also echoed this sentiment by emphasizing Germany’s strong history in technology and engineering innovation, as well as the widespread public adoption of ChatGPT. Altman noted that the initiative will extend AI’s benefits to public sector services while adhering to German values of trust, safety, and data privacy.
“[…] millions of Germans already use ChatGPT to make their lives easier, drive scientific breakthroughs, and build new businesses,” Altman noted. “With OpenAI for Germany, we’ll work with local partners to extend this potential to the public sector – helping to improve services and ensuring that the benefits of AI are shared across the country, and doing so in line with German values of trust and safety.”
OpenAI for Germany is part of a broader OpenAI for Countries program and the Stargate Project, which has extended and launched similar sovereign AI programs in countries such as Greece, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Estonia, and Norway.
