Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup OpenAI has announced the opening of its first office in Asia in Tokyo, Japan. The company, known for its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot, is looking to expand its global revenue streams. CEO Sam Altman and CEO Brad Lightcup met with executives from Fortune 500 companies in the United States and Britain to attract new business opportunities.
Altman expressed interest in establishing a presence in Japan after meeting with Prime Minister Fumi Kishida. OpenAI has already opened offices in London and Dublin. As Japan looks to leverage artificial intelligence technology to compete with China, improve digital services and address labor shortages, OpenAI sees potential in the Japanese market. The company has a custom model optimized for the Japanese language, and Tadao Nagasaki, former president of Amazon Web Services in Japan, leads the business in Japan.
Despite Japan being seen as technologically backward, local companies such as SoftBank and NTT are investing in major language models. In addition, Microsoft recently announced a $2.9 billion investment over two years in cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan. This is in line with the trend of large US technology companies increasingly focusing on investing in global markets.