OpenAI plans to grow its Irish office, the company’s chief financial officer said, as it seeks to expand its presence in the European Union.
Sarah Friar, who joined the company in 2024 after working with fintech Square and neighbourhood platform Nextdoor, said OpenAI was investing in Dublin.
“We do have a very vibrant Dublin office that is starting to grow and it will get big over time because it can be an office ... where we can put research and apply it potentially over time,” she said.
“There is a lot of ‘go to market’ already here, both for Irish companies, but also Europe broadly speaking. It’s a really good place for what we call forward deployed engineers, who tend to work alongside a customer to help bring their wildest AI dreams to some sort of fruition. So we are definitely investing in Dublin.”
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Tech companies have previously expressed reservations about European Union regulation of the emerging AI sector, warning that it could hamper innovation in the region.
“Ireland has managed to bring a really nice balance of regulatory sameness meets pragmatism, though recognising that the public and whoever it is you’re protecting also does need to feel safe,” she said.
“I also think you can overdo it, particularly in a young technology where we’re still all somewhat figuring out and it’s moving at the speed of light. I think you can get into a way over-regulated environment and I think that’s the place where the EU does need to be careful and mindful.”
The company announced in September 2023 that it would open its European headquarters in Dublin, and would begin growing the office before the end of that year.
Announcing the plans, chief strategy officer Jason Kwon said the company needed to have an European Union-based office to ensure that they could access talent and support customers that they already had in the region.
