Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleSAP CEO Christian Klein urges Europe to unify and ease AI regulations to compete with the U.S. and China, focusing on strengths in specific industries.
By Kritika Lamba and Krystal Hu
Dec 4 (Reuters) - Europe needs a more unified market and lighter-touch regulation to stay competitive in artificial intelligence as the U.S. and China accelerate investment and deployment, SAP CEO Christian Klein said on Thursday.
Speaking at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York, Klein said Europe is "more important than ever" in a fast-changing geopolitical environment but "stands in its own way ... regulating where nothing has to be regulated."
"We need more Europe, but we need a united Europe. We need much less regulation," he said, arguing that early-stage AI needs room to scale before the bloc codifies strict compliance regimes.
Beyond regulation, Klein said Europe should play to its strengths rather than trying to replicate the U.S. or Chinese strategies.
"We have great talent in Munich, Paris and eastern Europe. We have strong industries — automotive, manufacturing — but they are under huge pressure from high energy and labor costs," he said. "Europe should focus on vertical use cases where we have expertise and data, not just building more data centers."
Klein's comments come as Brussels revises the rollout of the EU's landmark Artificial Intelligence Act. In November, the European Commission proposed a "Digital Omnibus" to streamline tech laws and delay enforcement of the Act's strictest high-risk rules to December 2027 from August 2026.
These cover sensitive uses like biometric ID, job applications, health services and law enforcement. The package also seeks to simplify cookie consent and update GDPR to allow firms such as Google, Meta and OpenAI to use some personal data for AI training under new safeguards.
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(Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think and learn. AI can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language translation.
Regulation in finance refers to the rules and laws that govern financial institutions and markets. These regulations are designed to maintain stability, protect investors, and ensure fair practices within the financial system.
A unified market is an economic area where goods, services, and capital can move freely without barriers. This concept aims to enhance competition and efficiency among businesses within the market.
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