OpenAI CEO plans expansion in Japan after meeting PM Fumio Kishida

By Yuki Hagiwara

Sam Altman, co-founder and chief executive officer of OpenAI, said the organization is looking at opening a Japan office and expanding Japanese language services after meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“We hope to spend much more time and engage with the wonderful talent and build something great for the Japanese people,” Altman told reporters in Tokyo Monday. “It really is amazing to see the adoption of this technology in Japan.”

OpenAI has set off a frenzy of interest in artificial intelligence technologies since unveiling its ChatGPT service in November. Microsoft Corp. agreed to pour $10 billion into the company and has integrated the technology into its Bing search engine. Google, the world’s leading search service, has responded with AI integrations of its own. 

Altman said that he discussed the technology’s potential with Kishida, and how to mitigate the downsides. They also talked about how to be thoughtful about the risks and how to make AI “as good for people as we can make it.”

Altman said OpenAI would work to make their models as good as possible in the Japanese language and for the Japanese culture.

“We’ll be back soon,” he said.