Why have SAP and OpenAI Launched Sovereign AI for Germany?
SAP and OpenAI have announced a new partnership to launch OpenAI for Germany, an initiative designed to bring advanced AI capabilities into the country’s public sector while ensuring sovereignty, security and compliance.
Supported by SAP’s subsidiary Delos Cloud and powered by Microsoft Azure, the collaboration aims to provide millions of employees with safe, responsible access to AI technology.
“Applied AI is what truly creates value,” says Christian Klein, CEO of SAP.
“Business AI company with decades of experience serving public sector organisations, we believe OpenAI for Germany represents a huge step forward.
“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.”
Extending AI to the public sector
The project is planned to launch in 2026 and will focus on German governments, administrations and research institutions.
The aim is to accelerate day-to-day work by integrating AI agents into workflows, helping public employees spend more time on people instead of paperwork.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, says: “Germany has long been a pioneer in engineering and technology, so it’s no surprise that millions of Germans already use ChatGPT to make their lives easier, drive scientific breakthroughs and build new businesses.
“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.”
Azure and Delos Cloud supporting sovereignty
SAP will use Delos Cloud, its sovereign cloud subsidiary, as the foundation for the new AI service.
The cloud will run on Microsoft Azure technology, combining local control with scalable infrastructure.
“With this partnership we are looking forward to bringing more AI capabilities to Germany’s public sector,” says Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft.
“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.”
To deliver the necessary compute, SAP plans to expand Delos Cloud’s infrastructure to 4,000 GPUs for AI workloads.
The company has also signalled further investment to strengthen Germany’s AI capabilities, potentially scaling through both SAP-owned facilities and collaborations with co-location providers and partners.
Building Germany’s AI future
The collaboration serves as a cornerstone for the development of customised public sector applications, including AI agents that can manage records, analyse administrative data and improve overall efficiency.
These solutions are designed to align with Germany’s strict requirements for data sovereignty and legal compliance.
The initiative directly supports the German Federal Government’s High-Tech Agenda, which targets AI-driven value creation of up to 10% of GDP by 2030.
By embedding sovereign AI into public services, the project contributes to Germany’s national ambition to remain a leader in applied AI.
It also ties into the “Made for Germany” initiative, which is backed by 61 companies and global investors.
This initiative has pledged more than €631bn (US$739.43bn) to accelerate growth and modernisation.
SAP has separately committed more than €20bn (US$23.43bn) to reinforce digital sovereignty in Germany, further aligning the company’s investments with national priorities.
Sovereign AI in practice
By combining SAP’s enterprise application expertise, OpenAI’s AI technology and Microsoft’s cloud platform, OpenAI for Germany is positioned as a sovereign solution tailored to the needs of public institutions.
The effort highlights how AI can be applied responsibly at scale, with infrastructure that protects sensitive data and meets regulatory standards.
With its launch set for 2026, OpenAI for Germany promises to provide the country’s public sector with both the computational resources and the governance framework required to harness AI for efficiency, innovation and national competitiveness.
