SAP CEO urges Europe not to regulate AI, says will put region behind [Video]

Christian Klein, Co-CEO of German software and cloud computing giant SAP, speaks during a press conference to present SAP’s financial results for 2019 on January 28, 2020 in Walldorf, southwestern Germany. – German software giant SAP reported a bottom line undermined by heavy restructuring costs, but lifted forecasts for the year ahead.

Daniel Roland | AFP | Getty Images

Europe should avoid regulating artificial intelligence and focus its attention on the results of the technology instead, the CEO of German enterprise tech giant SAP told CNBC Tuesday.

Christian Klein, who has held the top job at SAP since April 2020, said Europe risks falling behind the U.S. and China if it overregulates the AI sector.

While it’s important to mitigate the risks associated with AI, Klein argued that regulating the tech while it’s still in its infancy would be misguided.

“It’s very important that how we train our algorithms, the AI use cases we embed into the businesses of our customers …