In this photo illustration, the OpenAI logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.
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ChatGPT developer OpenAI has opened its first Asian office in Tokyo, Japan, aiming to expand its global reach.
“We are excited to be in Japan, a country with a rich history of people and technology coming together to do more,” Chief Executive Sam Altman said in a statement released Sunday. “We believe Artificial intelligence will accelerate work by empowering people to be more creative and productive, while also providing a wide range of value to current and new industries that have not yet been imagined.”
As part of the move, the company has appointed Tadao Nagasaki as the new president of OpenAI Japan, responsible for leading commercial and market engagement efforts.
Tokyo was chosen because of “its global leadership in technology, service culture and communities that embrace innovation.”
“As the first step in our long-term commitment to the region, we are offering local businesses early access to a custom model of GPT-4 optimized specifically for Japanese,” the statement read.
It added: “This custom model delivers improved performance in translating and summarizing Japanese text, is cost-effective, and runs up to 3 times faster than its predecessor.”
The company said that Japanese companies such as Daikin and Toyota, as well as local governments, are using ChatGPT to improve efficiency.
Altman met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last year, and he reportedly mentioned that he was considering opening a new office in Japan.
The artificial intelligence startup quickly became mainstream after publicly launching its ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. Microsoft Its private market valuation is reported to be Close to $100 billion.
Microsoft said last week US$2.9 billion will be invested Hyperscale cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan will be added in the next two years.
Microsoft said it is “the largest single investment in Japan in its 46-year history and the location of its first international office.”
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