Dutch tech firm Bird has announced plans to leave the EU, blaming the bloc’s strict AI regulation, saying “it lacks the environment we need to innovate.”

The EU has faced growing criticism over its strict regulation, especially in regard to AI development, with some companies saying they will not bring their AI features to the bloc because of an uncertain regulatory outlook. Bird appears to be one of the first that is planning to leave the bloc over those regulations, however.

CEO Robert Vis announced the company’s plans in a LinkedIn post.

Bird is leaving Netherlands, opens global hubs and moves from remote to back to office. Launches new operating model to adopt to the AI era.

After 14 years of proud Dutch heritage and operations in the Netherlands, we’re embarking on an exciting new chapter. Bird is strategically consolidating our operations to six key global destinations while moving to office presence in these locations.

In a year of unprecedented growth, our Bird Box product has seen exponential adoption across global markets, while our core infrastructure continues to power over 5 trillion customer interactions annually across Email and SMS.

As AI transforms the global economy, our “Business in a Box” solution is revolutionizing how companies operate, bringing unprecedented efficiency and scale to business communications worldwide.

In communications with Reuters, Vis clarified that the EU’s regulation was the underlying cause.

“We are mostly leaving Europe as it lacks the environment we need to innovate in an AI-first era of technology,” CEO Robert Vis told the outlet.

“We foresee that regulations in Europe will block true innovation in a global economy moving extremely fast to AI,” he said in response to Reuters queries.

In a separate LinkedIn post that linked to Reuters’ article, Vis warned that Bird wouldn’t be the last to leave the EU over regulation.

Stop regulating Europe! We might be the first, but we won’t be the last.