Chatting without US interference: 3 alternatives to Chat GPT
European AI alternatives offer more privacy and control than American chatbots. We highlight three options for you.
Published on September 17, 2025
Merien co-founded E52 in 2015 and envisioned AI in journalism, leading to Laio. He writes bold columns on hydrogen and mobility—often with a sharp edge.
At a time when large tech companies, such as OpenAI (known for ChatGPT), Google, and Amazon, are attracting increasing attention with their AI solutions, concerns about privacy and data breaches are also on the rise. The political situation in the United States is turbulent, and we see AI developers adapting to it, as evidenced by the controversial comments made by Grok, Elon Musk's AI. That is why in this article we look at European alternatives that offer more control over user data and comply with strict European privacy laws.
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate human conversations. They are used for various purposes, such as customer service, information provision, and entertainment. An important distinction is whether a chatbot is “web search grounded” or not. 'Grounded' means that the chatbot has access to the internet to search for and process up-to-date information, making the answers more relevant and current. Most new bots, such as ChatGPT and the alternatives mentioned here, have internet access.
The risks of AI
The use of AI tools, such as chatbots, carries risks. The data you share is often stored and sometimes even used to further train the model. A chatbot can also exhibit a conscious bias; the bot may attempt to impose its own opinion. A recent example is Grok, Elon Musk's AI, which made anti-Semitic comments and insulted the Polish prime minister. This shows that AI models can be influenced by the political beliefs of their developers. It is therefore essential to seek alternatives that prioritize privacy and ethics.
The European Alternative
The European Alternative is a series about European tech solutions that prioritize privacy, digital sovereignty, and sustainability. Instead of relying on major American platforms, we highlight the alternatives Europe itself has to offer—transparent, secure, and aligned with European values.
View The European Alternative1. Le Chat: The European response
Le Chat is a European chatbot developed by French company Mistral AI. It is designed to comply with the EU AI Act, with a focus on privacy, ethics, and transparency. Le Chat offers a free, open-source alternative to commercial AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini, with a stronger emphasis on data protection and transparency. Le Chat's key principles are privacy and data protection in accordance with the GDPR, ethical AI use based on the EU AI Act guidelines, and open and free accessibility. Mistral even offers a workshop on working with Le Chat to teach companies how to use this European AI tool safely, sustainably, and in compliance with regulations. Mistral was recently in the news due to a €1.5 billion investment in Mistral AI by ASML.
2. Euqai.chat: Privacy-first from the Netherlands
Euqai.chat is an EU-hosted AI chatbot that prioritizes privacy. The chatbot runs on energy-recycling data centers for sustainable web conversations. In addition to the web, the bot can also be accessed on the social media platform Bluesky. Euqai is based in the Netherlands. The system was built with EU regulations in mind and was not retrofitted for compliance. In addition to a chatbot, Euqai also offers an API that developers can use to develop their own AI services.
3. Self-hosting with Ollama: Maximum control
For those who want maximum control over their data, self-hosting an AI model is an option. Ollama is a tool that allows you to run large language models locally on your own computer. It does require some technical knowledge, but it gives you the opportunity to safely test European (Mistral) as well as American and Chinese (Deepseek, Qwen) models. To install Ollama, download the app from the Ollama website. After installation, you can download and run models via the command line. It's not the most user-friendly route, but it offers unparalleled control over your data and privacy.
Editor's note: The author of this article is involved in the development of euqai.