OpenAI has released its EU Economic Blueprint 2.0, a report that combines new data on how people and organizations across Europe use frontier artificial intelligence systems with a set of initiatives aimed at closing what it calls the region’s artificial intelligence capability overhang. The company defines this capability overhang as the growing gap between what advanced artificial intelligence models can do and how individuals, businesses, and countries are actually deploying them, warning that if left unaddressed it could concentrate productivity gains in a narrow set of countries, sectors, and firms while others fall behind. The blueprint argues that the way Europe responds to this gap will shape whether its citizens and companies can fully participate in what OpenAI calls the Intelligence Age.
According to the new data, worldwide the typical power user uses 7x more thinking capabilities than the typical user, and across more than 70 countries with the highest ChatGPT users, leading countries use 3x more thinking capabilities per person than users in lagging countries. OpenAI’s figures show that the EU uses 17% more thinking capabilities on average than the rest of the world, but they also highlight significant disparities inside the bloc, with the most intensive country using approximately 40% more thinking capabilities than the least and nine EU countries still falling below the global average. In response, the blueprint recommends that policymakers introduce national artificial intelligence in education frameworks, develop a portable artificial intelligence skills accreditation scheme, and systematically measure adoption and usage at national and sector levels so that progress on closing the capability gap can be monitored.
Beyond policy guidance, OpenAI is launching a new SME artificial intelligence Accelerator in partnership with Booking.com to address adoption gaps between small and large companies. According to Eurostat, in 2025, artificial intelligence adoption among small businesses stood at 17%, compared with 55% among large enterprises. The SME artificial intelligence Accelerator is designed to help 20,000 SMEs from across the economy improve productivity and grow their businesses with artificial intelligence through in-person workshops and virtual training delivered across six countries, specifically France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Ireland, and the UK, with content hosted on OpenAI Academy and open to non-technical participants. To bolster trust and safety, OpenAI is also launching a €500,000 Youth Safety Grant Program to support local youth organizations, independent researchers, and artificial intelligence developers working on child protection, digital wellbeing, and evidence-based approaches to youth online safety.
Trust is framed as a prerequisite for artificial intelligence success in Europe, with OpenAI noting it was the first U.S. artificial intelligence lab to sign the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act Code of Practice and emphasizing ongoing investments in safety. The company is extending its government engagement through OpenAI for Europe, a regional version of its OpenAI for Countries initiative that already supports sovereign infrastructure projects in Germany and Norway and nationwide education and skills programs in countries including Estonia, Greece, Ireland, and Slovakia. In 2026, OpenAI plans to expand OpenAI for Europe so more European governments can access support across policy areas such as education and health, artificial intelligence skills training and certifications, disaster response and preparedness, cybersecurity, and startup accelerators. The EU Economic Blueprint 2.0 concludes by outlining how Europe can position itself to lead in artificial intelligence and invites stakeholders to work with OpenAI to turn that ambition into tangible impact.
