OpenAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) firm, launched its first Asia office in Tokyo, Japan, as it started to persuade Japanese prospects.

CEO Sam Altman stated: "This is just the first step in what I hope will be a long-term partnership with the people of Japan, government leaders, businesses and research institutions."

Upon meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last year, Altman said that a Japanese site was being considered.

Japan Seeks to Use AI to Address China's Growing Influence

Japan is planning to use AI to its advantage to deal with its growing labor shortages, speed up the transition to digital services, and compete with China's growing assertiveness.

According to Reuters, COO Brad Lightcap told Tokyo reporters that they "expect a meaningful contribution from Japan over time," but did not provide any specifics. Lightcap said they have a backlog of demand.

Tadao Nagasaki, a former president of Amazon Web Services in Japan, is now leading OpenAI's operations in Japan. The company claims to have a model optimized for the Japanese language. Local telecoms are reportedly investing in massive language models despite the country's reputation as a tech laggard.

Toyota, Daikin Industries, and the Japanese government are among OpenAI's Japanese clients.

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OpenAI Exploring Overseas Markets to Boost Revenue

After generating a lot of buzz with the release of its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot in late 2022, the firm is now seeking to expand into new international markets in order to increase its income.

Last month, Altman and Lightcap reportedly gathered hundreds of executives from Fortune 500 companies in the United States and the United Kingdom to pitch for business.

The company has already established a presence in Dublin and London.

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