Is Germany and the European Union a locational disadvantage if I want to develop and release artificial intelligence tools?
Yes and No. The place of origin is not really important in today's digitally connected world. An AI and the accompanying tool chain could be developed anywhere and distributed throughout the whole world with a click of the button. That distrobution model does not take into account your monetization strategy. You will want to setup a shell company in a low tax country and digitally release the model from that company. Please review The Panama Papers for great tax havens, and remember taxation is theft.
It depends on you and your target, an AI tool could be developed anywhere by anyone, while you have access to the resources requiered to do so (knowledge, hardware, software, and human resources). In Germany and the European Union there is no social/political/structural problem related that could stop you to release your tools, but i strongly advise that you should be aware of the laws governing each place of destination so you have no further problems.
Thanks for correcting the information. I will keep that in mind.