Context
BärGPT is an open-source AI assistant developed for public servants in Berlin and hosted entirely on European infrastructure. It supports everyday administrative work such as document analysis, drafting texts, knowledge management, and policy preparation, with the aim of increasing efficiency and quality in public service delivery.
The product emerged from a prototyping and service design process that placed public servants at the centre of development. Their needs directly shaped core features such as persistent document uploads and clear source citations, and is by default shipped with a set of standard documents relevant to the day-to-day work of public servants. This data-driven set-up improves the quality of generated outputs while reducing the risk of hallucinations.
By combining a user experience comparable to commercial tools with full GDPR compliance and European technology, BärGPT provides a safe, practical, and accessible digital service at subnational level. It enables public servants to work more effectively and, in turn, deliver better policies and services for citizens.
Objectives
The main objective of the project is to provide a secure, GDPR-compliant AI assistant for public servants that relies exclusively on European technology. The rapid spread of generative AI has created immediate demand within public administration, while demographic change and labour shortages are increasing pressure on existing staff. At the same time, most available AI tools raise concerns regarding data protection and sovereignty.
BärGPT addresses this gap by offering an easy-to-use, compliant alternative tailored to public-sector needs. A key goal was to support evidence-based policymaking by ensuring transparency and reliability. This led to the implementation of persistent document management and direct source citations, allowing users to trace generated content back to original documents.
Usability was another central objective. Extensive user testing with public servants ensured that the system remains intuitive and practical for daily work, enabling faster adoption and meaningful impact across Berlin’s public administration.
Implementation
BärGPT is a joint initiative of the Berlin Senate Chancellery (Senatskanzlei Berlin) and CityLAB Berlin. The project emerged from an exploration phase initiated by an AI task force coordinated by the Senate Chancellery. In this phase, CityLAB Berlin organised workshops with public servants to identify practical use cases for generative AI in administrative work. Based on these insights, an initial proof of concept was developed and tested.
Following successful validation, the cooperation was formally established. The project combines policy and administrative oversight from the Senate Chancellery with product design and technical development at CityLAB Berlin. As the initiative evolved from prototype to product, additional staff were allocated to support development and implementation. Funding came from the existing public innovation grant to CityLAB Berlin, with resources primarily dedicated to development and operational capacities.
The project followed an agile, service-oriented approach with continuous stakeholder involvement through workshops and user testing. After iterative refinement and feature completion, a restricted beta phase was launched, supported by internal communication and training measures. Prior to full roll-out in November 2025, the system was migrated to a GDPR-compliant infrastructure. Ongoing improvements continue, based on user feedback.