OpenAI CEO vows to work with Japan on user protections

Sam Altman meets Kishida, LDP officials, hints at local ChatGPT office

Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, center, met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on April 10. (Photo by Uichiro Kasai)

AKIRA OIKAWA, KOSUKE TAKEUCHI and MASAHARU BAN, Nikkei staff writers

April 10, 2023 18:12 JST

TOKYO -- Sam Altman, CEO of U.S. startup OpenAI, which developed the interactive artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT, met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other senior officials in Tokyo on Monday, pledging to work with the government to protect user privacy and safety.

While ChatGPT is expected to raise productivity through automatic text generation and other means, there is growing concern in Europe and the U.S. about how developers of AI tools will protect personal information and deal with the spread of misinformation or disinformation.