Asger Risom
OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger says Europe’s labor rules and regulatory approach make it harder to build high-growth tech companies, as he relocates to the US to join OpenAI.
One of Europe’s emerging AI entrepreneurs is leaving the continent — and he’s been unusually candid about his reasons.
Peter Steinberger, creator of the agentic AI project OpenClaw, is joining OpenAI and moving from Europe to the United States. In public comments, he pointed to what he sees as a stark cultural and regulatory contrast between the two regions.
‘Scolded about responsibility’
Steinberger, an Austrian who previously split his time between London and Vienna, responded on X after a European academic questioned why the region struggles to retain tech talent.
In the US, he said, the prevailing attitude toward ambitious tech projects is enthusiastic. In Europe, by contrast, he feels conversations are more likely to focus on regulation and responsibility.
If he tried to scale a company in Europe, he argued, strict labor laws and regulatory frameworks would make growth significantly harder.
He contrasted that with OpenAI, where employees frequently work six or seven days a week and are compensated accordingly — something he suggested would be legally problematic in much of Europe.
A wider competitiveness debate
His remarks land in the middle of a long-running debate about Europe’s lag in tech innovation.
Europe’s most valuable listed company is Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML, valued at around $550 billion. The US, meanwhile, counts 10 companies worth more than $1 trillion — most of them technology giants.
A landmark EU report in 2024 concluded that Europe had fallen behind the US in innovation and competitiveness. Although it proposed major reforms, implementation has been limited so far.
Steinberger expressed some hope for EU INC, an initiative aimed at creating a unified corporate framework across the bloc to simplify business operations. But he suggested progress has stalled, describing the effort as “fizzling out” and “Watered down, too much egoistic national interest that ultimately hurts everyone.”
Brain drain fears
His move adds fresh fuel to concerns about Europe’s ability to keep top AI talent at home. While the continent has positioned itself as a global leader in tech regulation, critics argue that an overly restrictive environment may be pushing founders toward the US — where capital, scale, and regulatory flexibility remain powerful draws.
Whether Steinberger’s departure is an isolated case or part of a broader shift remains to be seen. But his blunt assessment underscores a growing tension between governance and growth in the AI era.
Sources: Business Insider; posts by Peter Steinberger on X
