Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup OpenAI delivered a business presentation in Japan on Monday, launching its first Asian office in Tokyo, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed.
This is just the first step in what I hope will be a long-term partnership with the people of Japan, government leaders, businesses and research institutions.
Since launching its generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT at the end of 2022, the startup has sparked excitement among consumers around the world. Seeking to find new revenue streams, Altman and Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap invited hundreds of executives from Fortune 500 companies in the US and UK this month to pitch their project.
Japan hopes to take advantage of AI in a bid to accelerate the transition to digital services and alleviate a growing labour shortage. Lightcap stated:
We have a backlog of demand. We expect a meaningful contribution from Japan over time.
OpenAI stated that their Japanese business would be led by Tadao Nagasaki who was president of Amazon Web Services in Japan. The company claimed it had its own model optimised for the Japanese language, while local companies including telecoms companies SoftBank and NTT were investing in large language models.
Automaker Toyota Motor, manufacturer Daikin Industries and local governments are among OpenAI’s customers in Japan. Last week, Microsoft announced it would invest $2.9 billion over two years in cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan.
