ChatGPT-maker OpenAI will open its first Australian office in Sydney before the year is out, in a move the artificial intelligence giant says reflects the country’s rapidly growing user base.
With active Australian users more than doubling over the past year, the company on Thursday said it had registered as a company in Australia and had begun hiring a local team for the new office.
The local office, which will bring OpenAI’s number of outposts in the Asia-Pacific to three, will reportedly be focused on sales and support for customers deploying AI, such as the Commonwealth Bank and UNSW.
The announcement comes less than two months after a whirlwind lobbying tour of Australia by OpenAI leaders, including the company’s chief economist Ronnie Chatterji.
The delegation pushed the case for Australia to become a regional hub for AI infrastructure, providing new training capacity outside of the United States and Europe.
OpenAI on Thursday said the new office would allow it to “better support its growing community of users” and “work more closely with policymakers and deepen collaboration with Australian researchers and institutions”.
Weekly active users of ChatGPT in Australia have surged in the past year, the company said, with Australia also falling into the top ten markets for users with ChatGPT subscriptions.
“Australia’s government, businesses and world-class developer ecosystem are already shaping the future of AI,” OpenAI chief operating officer Brad Lightcap said in a statement.
“We’re excited to expand our presence in Australia and build a local team to work closely with partners, customers, and the millions of Australians who use ChatGPT daily.”
OpenAI said it has officially established an entity in Australia and is currently building out a local team, although none of the 315 jobs currently being advertised are located in Australia.
Former Tech Council chief executive Kate Pounder is the company’s only local representative at present, having been engaged as its Australian policy liaison on a six-month contract earlier this year.
Further details about the office, including its exact location, will be revealed at a later date. The Sydney office will join Singapore and Tokyo as the company’s Asia-Pacific outposts.
Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton, who visited the company’s San Francisco headquarters as part of a US trip earlier this month, welcomed the announcement.
“When I met with them in the US, we spoke about Australia’s clear strengths as a location for AI investment in the region,” Dr Charlton told InnovationAus.com.
“Australia’s future prosperity depends on us taking up new technologies, and making sure they benefit all Australians.”
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.