Microsoft’s artificial intelligence startup OpenAI has opened its first office in Asia in Tokyo, Japan. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed his hopes for a long-term partnership with the people of Japan, government leaders, businesses, and research institutions. The startup aims to increase its sources of revenue globally and has been pitching to hundreds of Fortune 500 companies in the US and UK.
OpenAI has a backlog of demand and expects a meaningful contribution from Japan over time, as the country looks to take advantage of AI to compete with China, shift to digital services, and alleviate labor shortages. OpenAI has a custom model optimized for the Japanese language and Tadao Nagasaki, former president of Amazon Web Services in Japan, will lead the Japan business.
OpenAI’s Japanese customers include Toyota Motor, Daikin Industries, and local government. Microsoft has also announced a $2.9 billion investment in cloud and AI infrastructure in Japan.