diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/central-config.js b/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/central-config.js
index 24bf1a4b..18f34e53 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/central-config.js
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/central-config.js
@@ -420,6 +420,45 @@ const REMOTE_CONFIG_HANDLERS = [
             return null;
         },
     },
+
+    {
+        keys: ['sampling_rate'],
+        setter: (config, sdkInfo) => {
+            if (!sdkInfo.sampler) {
+                return `ignoring "sampling_rate" because non-default sampler in use`;
+            }
+
+            const rawRate = config['sampling_rate'];
+            let valRate;
+            let verb = 'set';
+            switch (typeof rawRate) {
+                case 'undefined':
+                    valRate = initialConfig.sampling_rate;
+                    verb = 'reset';
+                    break;
+                case 'number':
+                    valRate = rawRate;
+                    break;
+                case 'string':
+                    valRate = Number(rawRate);
+                    if (isNaN(valRate)) {
+                        return `unknown 'sampling_rate' value: "${rawRate}"`;
+                    }
+                    break;
+                default:
+                    return `unknown 'sampling_rate' value type: ${typeof rawRate} (${rawRate})`;
+            }
+
+            if (valRate < 0 || valRate > 1) {
+                return `'sampling_rate' value must be between 0 and 1: ${valRate}`;
+            }
+
+            sdkInfo.sampler.setRatio(valRate);
+            log.info(`central-config: ${verb} "sampling_rate" to "${valRate}"`);
+
+            return null;
+        },
+    },
 ];
 
 /**
@@ -500,7 +539,7 @@ function onRemoteConfig(sdkInfo, opampClient, remoteConfig) {
 
         // Report config status.
         if (applyErrs.length > 0) {
-            log.error(
+            log.warn(
                 {config, applyErrs},
                 'could not apply all remote config settings'
             );
@@ -598,6 +637,7 @@ function setupCentralConfig(sdkInfo) {
         CC_LOGGING_LEVEL_FROM_LUGGITE_LEVEL[
             luggite.nameFromLevel[log.level()] ?? DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL
         ];
+    initialConfig.sampling_rate = sdkInfo.samplingRate;
     initialConfig.send_traces = !sdkInfo.contextPropagationOnly;
     log.debug({initialConfig}, 'initial central config values');
 
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/sampler.js b/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/sampler.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ea8e7697
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/sampler.js
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+const {
+    createCompositeSampler,
+    createComposableParentThresholdSampler,
+    createComposableTraceIDRatioBasedSampler,
+} = require('@opentelemetry/sampler-composite');
+
+/**
+ * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/api').Attributes} Attributes
+ * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/api').Context} Context
+ * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/api').Link} Link
+ * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/api').SpanKind} SpanKind
+ * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base').Sampler} Sampler
+ * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base').SamplingResult} SamplingResult
+ */
+
+/**
+ * EDOT default sampler, a parent-based ratio sampler which can have its ratio updated dynamically.
+ *
+ * @implements {Sampler}
+ */
+class DefaultSampler {
+    #delegate;
+
+    constructor(ratio = 1.0) {
+        this.#delegate = newSampler(ratio);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param {Context} context
+     * @param {string} traceId
+     * @param {string} spanName
+     * @param {SpanKind} spanKind
+     * @param {Attributes} attributes
+     * @param {Link[]} links
+     * @returns {SamplingResult}
+     */
+    shouldSample(context, traceId, spanName, spanKind, attributes, links) {
+        return this.#delegate.shouldSample(
+            context,
+            traceId,
+            spanName,
+            spanKind,
+            attributes,
+            links
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param {number} ratio
+     */
+    setRatio(ratio) {
+        this.#delegate = newSampler(ratio);
+    }
+
+    toString() {
+        return this.#delegate.toString();
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {number} ratio A number between 0 and 1 representing the sampling ratio.
+ */
+function newSampler(ratio) {
+    return createCompositeSampler(
+        createComposableParentThresholdSampler(
+            createComposableTraceIDRatioBasedSampler(ratio)
+        )
+    );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Creates a default EDOT sampler, which is a parent-based ratio sampler that can have
+ * its ratio updated dynamically by central config.
+ *
+ * @param {number} ratio
+ * @returns {Sampler} A ratio sampler which can have its ratio updated dynamically.
+ */
+function createDefaultSampler(ratio) {
+    return new DefaultSampler(ratio);
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+    createDefaultSampler,
+};
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/sdk.js b/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/sdk.js
index 74eeb0fe..835a0c90 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/sdk.js
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/lib/sdk.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const os = require('os');
 
 const {
     getBooleanFromEnv,
+    getNumberFromEnv,
     getStringFromEnv,
     getStringListFromEnv,
 } = require('@opentelemetry/core');
@@ -45,10 +46,12 @@ const {
     setupDynConfExporters,
     dynConfSpanExporters,
 } = require('./dynconf');
+const {createDefaultSampler} = require('./sampler');
 const DISTRO_VERSION = require('../package.json').version;
 
 /**
  * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/sdk-node').NodeSDKConfiguration} NodeSDKConfiguration
+ * @typedef {import('@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base').Sampler} Sampler
  */
 
 /**
@@ -241,6 +244,26 @@ function startNodeSDK(cfg = {}) {
 
     const config = {...defaultConfig, ...cfg};
 
+    /** @type {Sampler} */
+    let sampler = undefined;
+    let samplingRate = 1.0;
+    if (!config.sampler && !getStringFromEnv('OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER')) {
+        // If the user has not set a sampler via config or env var, use our default sampler.
+        // First get as string to differentiate between missing and invalid.
+        if (getStringFromEnv('OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG')) {
+            const samplingRateArg = getNumberFromEnv('OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG');
+            if (samplingRateArg === undefined) {
+                log.warn(
+                    `Invalid OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG value: ${process.env.OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG}. Using default sampling rate of ${samplingRate}`
+                );
+            } else {
+                samplingRate = samplingRateArg;
+            }
+        }
+        sampler = createDefaultSampler(samplingRate);
+        config.sampler = sampler;
+    }
+
     // Some tricks to get a handle on noop signal providers, to be used for
     // dynamic configuration.
     const tracerProviderProxy = new api.ProxyTracerProvider();
@@ -306,6 +329,8 @@ function startNodeSDK(cfg = {}) {
         noopTracerProvider,
         // @ts-ignore: Ignore access of private _tracerProvider for now. (TODO)
         sdkTracerProvider: sdk._tracerProvider,
+        sampler,
+        samplingRate,
         contextPropagationOnly,
     });
 
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/package-lock.json b/packages/opentelemetry-node/package-lock.json
index 520188c0..f2bf14bf 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-node/package-lock.json
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/package-lock.json
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@
         "@opentelemetry/resource-detector-azure": "^0.14.0",
         "@opentelemetry/resource-detector-container": "^0.7.0",
         "@opentelemetry/resources": "^2.0.0",
+        "@opentelemetry/sampler-composite": "^0.206.0",
         "@opentelemetry/sdk-logs": "^0.206.0",
         "@opentelemetry/sdk-metrics": "^2.0.0",
         "@opentelemetry/sdk-node": "^0.206.0",
@@ -3669,6 +3670,70 @@
         "@opentelemetry/api": ">=1.3.0 <1.10.0"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/@opentelemetry/sampler-composite": {
+      "version": "0.206.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@opentelemetry/sampler-composite/-/sampler-composite-0.206.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-EEegHAitmUnaou4Sz8/9dmHquI2lCJGjvbEl42AkgiuqOuUG2MbIB3Ip6SqV6UVJSq6mi8NgERzofLjjK8whMA==",
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/core": "2.0.1",
+        "@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base": "2.0.1"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": "^18.19.0 || >=20.6.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/api": "^1.3.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/@opentelemetry/sampler-composite/node_modules/@opentelemetry/core": {
+      "version": "2.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@opentelemetry/core/-/core-2.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-MaZk9SJIDgo1peKevlbhP6+IwIiNPNmswNL4AF0WaQJLbHXjr9SrZMgS12+iqr9ToV4ZVosCcc0f8Rg67LXjxw==",
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/semantic-conventions": "^1.29.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": "^18.19.0 || >=20.6.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/api": ">=1.0.0 <1.10.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/@opentelemetry/sampler-composite/node_modules/@opentelemetry/resources": {
+      "version": "2.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@opentelemetry/resources/-/resources-2.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-dZOB3R6zvBwDKnHDTB4X1xtMArB/d324VsbiPkX/Yu0Q8T2xceRthoIVFhJdvgVM2QhGVUyX9tzwiNxGtoBJUw==",
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/core": "2.0.1",
+        "@opentelemetry/semantic-conventions": "^1.29.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": "^18.19.0 || >=20.6.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/api": ">=1.3.0 <1.10.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/@opentelemetry/sampler-composite/node_modules/@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base": {
+      "version": "2.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base/-/sdk-trace-base-2.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-xYLlvk/xdScGx1aEqvxLwf6sXQLXCjk3/1SQT9X9AoN5rXRhkdvIFShuNNmtTEPRBqcsMbS4p/gJLNI2wXaDuQ==",
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/core": "2.0.1",
+        "@opentelemetry/resources": "2.0.1",
+        "@opentelemetry/semantic-conventions": "^1.29.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": "^18.19.0 || >=20.6.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "@opentelemetry/api": ">=1.3.0 <1.10.0"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/@opentelemetry/sdk-logs": {
       "version": "0.206.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@opentelemetry/sdk-logs/-/sdk-logs-0.206.0.tgz",
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/package.json b/packages/opentelemetry-node/package.json
index 40c1c52e..9569fd02 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-node/package.json
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/package.json
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@
     "@opentelemetry/resource-detector-azure": "^0.14.0",
     "@opentelemetry/resource-detector-container": "^0.7.0",
     "@opentelemetry/resources": "^2.0.0",
+    "@opentelemetry/sampler-composite": "^0.206.0",
     "@opentelemetry/sdk-logs": "^0.206.0",
     "@opentelemetry/sdk-metrics": "^2.0.0",
     "@opentelemetry/sdk-node": "^0.206.0",
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/test/OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER.js b/packages/opentelemetry-node/test/OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bb2d3dfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/test/OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER.js
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+const {test} = require('tape');
+const {runTestFixtures} = require('./testutils');
+
+/** @type {import('./testutils').TestFixture[]} */
+const testFixtures = [
+    {
+        name: 'OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER unset (default sampling of 100%)',
+        args: ['./fixtures/use-http-get.js'],
+        cwd: __dirname,
+        env: {
+            NODE_OPTIONS: '--import=@elastic/opentelemetry-node',
+        },
+        checkTelemetry: (t, col) => {
+            t.equal(col.sortedSpans.length, 1);
+        },
+    },
+    {
+        name: 'OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER unset, OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG=0 (no sampling)',
+        args: ['./fixtures/use-http-get.js'],
+        cwd: __dirname,
+        env: {
+            NODE_OPTIONS: '--import=@elastic/opentelemetry-node',
+            OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG: '0',
+        },
+        checkTelemetry: (t, col) => {
+            t.equal(col.sortedSpans.length, 0);
+        },
+    },
+    {
+        name: 'OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER=always_off, (no sampling)',
+        args: ['./fixtures/use-http-get.js'],
+        cwd: __dirname,
+        env: {
+            NODE_OPTIONS: '--import=@elastic/opentelemetry-node',
+            OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER: 'always_off',
+        },
+        checkTelemetry: (t, col) => {
+            t.equal(col.sortedSpans.length, 0);
+        },
+    },
+];
+
+// ----- main line -----
+
+test('OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER', (suite) => {
+    runTestFixtures(suite, testFixtures);
+    suite.end();
+});
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/test/central-config.test.js b/packages/opentelemetry-node/test/central-config.test.js
index 8ce8bdde..1c418ea3 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-node/test/central-config.test.js
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/test/central-config.test.js
@@ -770,6 +770,165 @@ test('central-config', (suite) => {
             },
         },
 
+        {
+            name: 'central-config-gen-telemetry.js sampling_rate=0.0',
+            args: ['./fixtures/central-config-gen-telemetry.js'],
+            cwd: __dirname,
+            env: () => {
+                return {
+                    NODE_OPTIONS: '--import @elastic/opentelemetry-node',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_NODE_ENABLE_LOG_SENDING: 'true',
+                    // Skip cloud resource detectors to avoid delay and noise.
+                    OTEL_NODE_RESOURCE_DETECTORS:
+                        'env,host,os,process,serviceinstance,container',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_OPAMP_ENDPOINT: opampServer.endpoint,
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_EXPERIMENTAL_OPAMP_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL: '300',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_TEST_OPAMP_CLIENT_DIAG_ENABLED: 'true',
+                    // Set a short metric export interval to allow the
+                    // fixture script to wait for an interval after receiving
+                    // central config before proceeding.
+                    OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL: '500',
+                    OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_TIMEOUT: '450',
+                };
+            },
+            before: () => {
+                const config = {
+                    sampling_rate: '0.0',
+                };
+                opampServer.setAgentConfigMap({
+                    configMap: {
+                        elastic: {
+                            body: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(config), 'utf8'),
+                            contentType: 'application/json',
+                        },
+                    },
+                });
+            },
+            after: () => {
+                opampServer.setAgentConfigMap({configMap: {}});
+            },
+            // verbose: true,
+            checkTelemetry: (t, col) => {
+                t.equal(col.sortedSpans.length, 0, 'no spans');
+            },
+        },
+
+        {
+            name: 'central-config-gen-telemetry.js sampling_rate=0.0 non-default sampler',
+            args: ['./fixtures/central-config-gen-telemetry.js'],
+            cwd: __dirname,
+            env: () => {
+                return {
+                    NODE_OPTIONS: '--import @elastic/opentelemetry-node',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_NODE_ENABLE_LOG_SENDING: 'true',
+                    // Skip cloud resource detectors to avoid delay and noise.
+                    OTEL_NODE_RESOURCE_DETECTORS:
+                        'env,host,os,process,serviceinstance,container',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_OPAMP_ENDPOINT: opampServer.endpoint,
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_EXPERIMENTAL_OPAMP_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL: '300',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_TEST_OPAMP_CLIENT_DIAG_ENABLED: 'true',
+                    // Set a short metric export interval to allow the
+                    // fixture script to wait for an interval after receiving
+                    // central config before proceeding.
+                    OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL: '500',
+                    OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_TIMEOUT: '450',
+                    OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER: 'traceidratio',
+                    OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG: '1.0',
+                };
+            },
+            before: () => {
+                const config = {
+                    sampling_rate: '0.0',
+                };
+                opampServer.setAgentConfigMap({
+                    configMap: {
+                        elastic: {
+                            body: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(config), 'utf8'),
+                            contentType: 'application/json',
+                        },
+                    },
+                });
+            },
+            after: () => {
+                opampServer.setAgentConfigMap({configMap: {}});
+            },
+            // verbose: true,
+            checkTelemetry: (t, col, stdout) => {
+                t.equal(col.sortedSpans.length, 3, 'got all the spans');
+                const recs = stdout
+                    .split(/\r?\n/g)
+                    .filter((ln) => ln.startsWith('{'))
+                    .map((ln) => JSON.parse(ln));
+                const rec = findObjInArray(
+                    recs,
+                    'msg',
+                    'could not apply all remote config settings'
+                );
+                t.ok(rec);
+                t.equal(
+                    rec.applyErrs[0],
+                    'ignoring "sampling_rate" because non-default sampler in use'
+                );
+            },
+        },
+
+        {
+            name: 'central-config-gen-telemetry.js sampling_rate=-1.0',
+            args: ['./fixtures/central-config-gen-telemetry.js'],
+            cwd: __dirname,
+            env: () => {
+                return {
+                    NODE_OPTIONS: '--import @elastic/opentelemetry-node',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_NODE_ENABLE_LOG_SENDING: 'true',
+                    // Skip cloud resource detectors to avoid delay and noise.
+                    OTEL_NODE_RESOURCE_DETECTORS:
+                        'env,host,os,process,serviceinstance,container',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_OPAMP_ENDPOINT: opampServer.endpoint,
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_EXPERIMENTAL_OPAMP_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL: '300',
+                    ELASTIC_OTEL_TEST_OPAMP_CLIENT_DIAG_ENABLED: 'true',
+                    // Set a short metric export interval to allow the
+                    // fixture script to wait for an interval after receiving
+                    // central config before proceeding.
+                    OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL: '500',
+                    OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_TIMEOUT: '450',
+                };
+            },
+            before: () => {
+                const config = {
+                    sampling_rate: '-1.0',
+                };
+                opampServer.setAgentConfigMap({
+                    configMap: {
+                        elastic: {
+                            body: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(config), 'utf8'),
+                            contentType: 'application/json',
+                        },
+                    },
+                });
+            },
+            after: () => {
+                opampServer.setAgentConfigMap({configMap: {}});
+            },
+            // verbose: true,
+            checkTelemetry: (t, col, stdout) => {
+                t.equal(col.sortedSpans.length, 3, 'got all the spans');
+                const recs = stdout
+                    .split(/\r?\n/g)
+                    .filter((ln) => ln.startsWith('{'))
+                    .map((ln) => JSON.parse(ln));
+                const rec = findObjInArray(
+                    recs,
+                    'msg',
+                    'could not apply all remote config settings'
+                );
+                t.ok(rec);
+                t.equal(
+                    rec.applyErrs[0],
+                    "'sampling_rate' value must be between 0 and 1: -1"
+                );
+            },
+        },
+
         // TODO: Test unpatching cases with ESM. Does that work?
     ];
 
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/types/sampler.d.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-node/types/sampler.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6a200f6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/types/sampler.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+export type Attributes = import('@opentelemetry/api').Attributes;
+export type Context = import('@opentelemetry/api').Context;
+export type Link = import('@opentelemetry/api').Link;
+export type SpanKind = import('@opentelemetry/api').SpanKind;
+export type Sampler = import('@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base').Sampler;
+export type SamplingResult = import('@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base').SamplingResult;
+/**
+ * Creates a default EDOT sampler, which is a parent-based ratio sampler that can have
+ * its ratio updated dynamically by central config.
+ *
+ * @param {number} ratio
+ * @returns {Sampler} A ratio sampler which can have its ratio updated dynamically.
+ */
+export function createDefaultSampler(ratio: number): Sampler;
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-node/types/sdk.d.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-node/types/sdk.d.ts
index 34dcef12..9f26274e 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-node/types/sdk.d.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-node/types/sdk.d.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 export type NodeSDKConfiguration = import('@opentelemetry/sdk-node').NodeSDKConfiguration;
+export type Sampler = import('@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base').Sampler;
 export type ElasticNodeSDKOptions = {
     /**
      * - Whether to setup handlers
diff --git a/scripts/gen-notice.sh b/scripts/gen-notice.sh
index a95f1e6b..58fa2a95 100755
--- a/scripts/gen-notice.sh
+++ b/scripts/gen-notice.sh
@@ -87,10 +87,12 @@ npm ls --omit=dev --all --parseable \
             "tr46": "license.MIT.txt",
             "@bufbuild/protobuf": "license.apache2.txt",
             "safe-json-stringify": "license.MIT.txt",
+            // Releases after https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/6002
+            // will have a LICENSE file.
+            "@opentelemetry/sampler-composite": "license.apache2.txt",
         }
         const licTypeFromPkgName = {
-            // instr-openai will get the license field in https://github.com/elastic/elastic-otel-node/pull/1015
-            "@opentelemetry/instrumentation-openai": "Apache-2.0",
+            // Packages that have a license, but no "license" entry in package.json.
         }
         const allowNoLicFile = [
             "binary-search" // CC is a public domain dedication, no need for license text.