Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is on a mission to promote the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to world leaders, including Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, and Emmanuel Macron, the President of France. During a three-month tour across 16 countries, Altman and his team have been spreading the message that AI has the potential to revolutionize society. Altman argues that AI will only work for us if we work with it, and that it is inevitable, so it is vital to embrace it before it is too late.
OpenAI aims to secure AI’s future by creating partnerships with countries to enable the development of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, for global markets. During his visit to India, Altman discussed how ChatGPT could adapt to the country’s diverse languages as part of a wider aim of overcoming Indian skepticism towards US tech companies and nationalistic policies from the Modi government. Altman aims to collaborate with the Indian government to obtain data on the country’s languages that OpenAI might not have access to.
Altman’s strategy is paying off, and his mission is being enthusiastically received. Elyas Felfoul, Director of Policy Development and Partnerships at the World Innovation Summit for Education, describes Altman as genuine about raising awareness on AI, and people’s first impression of him is positive. Altman seems to have people’s trust, and he is setting the tone for conversations about AI’s future around the world. The OpenAI CEO is succeeding in winning over opinion and influencing policy, despite concerns about AI’s potential impact on employment and the spread of misinformation. OpenAI successfully lobbied the European Union to make changes to rules governing ChatGPT in its AI Act.
