ChatGPT-maker OpenAI opens its first Asia workplace in Japan

OpenAI has opened its first Asian workplace in Tokyo, Japan because the ChatGPT developer goals to broaden its international presence.

“We’re excited to be in Japan which has a wealthy historical past of individuals and expertise coming collectively to do extra,” CEO Sam Altman stated within the assertion launched Sunday. “We consider AI will speed up work by empowering folks to be extra artistic and productive, whereas additionally delivering broad worth to present and new industries which have but to be imagined.”

As a part of the transfer, the corporate has appointed Tadao Nagasaki as the brand new president of OpenAI Japan, to go industrial and market engagement efforts.

Tokyo was chosen attributable to “its international management in expertise, tradition of service, and a neighborhood that embraces innovation.”

“As a primary step in our long-term dedication to the area, we’re offering native companies with early entry to a GPT-4 customized mannequin particularly optimized for the Japanese language,” in keeping with the assertion.

“This practice mannequin affords improved efficiency in translating and summarizing Japanese textual content, is price efficient, and operates as much as 3x quicker than its predecessor,” it added.

Japanese firms like Daikin, Toyota in addition to native governments are utilizing ChatGPT to enhance their effectivity, the corporate stated.

Altman met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida final 12 months and reportedly talked about he was trying into opening a brand new workplace in Japan.

The factitious intelligence startup burst into the mainstream after the general public launch of the ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. The corporate is backed by Microsoft and has a non-public market valuation that is reportedly approaching $100 billion.  

Final week, Microsoft stated it is going to be investing $2.9 billion over the following two years to extend its hyperscale cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Japan.

That is the “single largest funding in its 46-year historical past in Japan, additionally the location of its first worldwide workplace,” Microsoft stated.