The increased importance of the EU in matters of tech regulation also played a role

check the node density of OSM [0]. notice a pattern?

on a forward looking basis pre-empting any regulatory risk would seem quite a weighty factor. being located in the jurisdiction that reflects the majority of their user base is not a silver bullet but probably shields them from diverging UK/EU rules

[0] https://tyrasd.github.io/osm-node-density/#2/43.8/26.4/lates...