OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he was considering opening an office and expanding services in Japan after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Japanese Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Kishida and Altman exchanged views on technological advances and the advantages of artificial intelligence, as well as its risks including invasion of privacy and copyright.
Matsuno said Japan would evaluate the possibility of introducing AI-powered technology such as OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot, where it examines the benefits and risks.
Altman told reporters after the meeting with Kishida: "We hope to build something great for the Japanese people and make better models of Japanese language and culture."
Altman's visit to Japan is the first international trip since the launch of ChatGPT. At a separate meeting at Japan's ruling party headquarters, the CEO expressed hope that Japan, as a geopolitical power, would play a role in adopting artificial intelligence and setting rules.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Altman exchange views on technological advances and the benefits of artificial intelligence (Reuters)
Matsuno said Japan would consider government adoption of artificial intelligence technology such as GPT chat if privacy and cybersecurity concerns were resolved.
ChatGPT, developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, has raised privacy concerns, prompting Italy to temporarily ban the chatbot.
Following Italy's restrictions that have inspired other European countries to consider such measures, OpenAI last week introduced measures to address privacy breach concerns for the Italian regulator.
Matsuno said Japan will continue to evaluate the possibilities of introducing artificial intelligence to reduce the workload of government employees after assessing how to respond to concerns such as data breaches.
Japan's minister in charge of digital transformation, Taro Kono, said on Friday that he hoped AI technologies would "substantially" reform the way the government operates, although he said it would be difficult to introduce Chat GPT in public offices soon due to problems such as "hallucinations" that sometimes occur when using chatbots.
Kono said he looks forward to the Group of Seven meeting of digital ministers scheduled for April 29-30 in Japan to discuss artificial intelligence technologies including ChatGPT and the release of a "unified message to the Group of Seven."