ChatGPT maker cites Canadian talent, capabilities and capital in artificial intelligence as benefits of global expansion.
Leaders in OpenAI the company is said to be looking to expand its presence in Canada and potentially play a role in the country's efforts to create sovereign AI.
In an interview with BetaKit, OpenAI's director of global affairs Chris Lehane and senior global advisor Dev Saxena said they see plenty of opportunity for the US artificial intelligence (AI) giant to grow in Canada.
“[Canada] This is obviously a place that would be of interest to any AI company.”
While the large language model (LLM) developer does not have an office north of the border, Lihan and Saxena said OpenAI already has a “pretty significant presence” in the country, with many Canadian developers building on its platform and many working with the Silicon Valley team on AI research.
“There will be a lot of Blue Jays T-shirts in our San Francisco office this week,” Lehane joked, while Saxena noted that the group has been vocal about the importance of Canada and is “really eager to do their part at home.”
Lekhan, who spoke to BetaKit yesterday ahead of his performance at the Elevate festival Premiere focused on artificial intelligencehinted that there could be an office north of the border at some point, but did not elaborate. “Stay tuned,” was all he said.
“When we start to think about what our presence will look like on a global scale, given [AI] the personnel reserve is here, [Canada] This is obviously a place that would be of interest to any AI company,” Lehane said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re having conversations here.”
Lehane noted that earlier this week the company spoke with Canada's Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon and was meeting with other public and private sector leaders to explore what role OpenAI could play in Canada's efforts to create sovereign artificial intelligence.
“A big part of what we do now is listen to these people and learn from them,” he said.
Geopolitical and trade tensions with the United States have prompted countries like Canada to push for digital sovereignty around the world. AI And cloud. Earlier this year Solomon told BetaKit that “sovereignty does not mean being alone,” indicating that he expects Canada will have to work with foreign companies and collaborate with other countries to build out its artificial intelligence sector.
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The shape of Canada's strategy will be determined in part You have a task force which just started a 30-day sprint.
Lehane said OpenAI is trying to figure out how it can help support Canada's efforts and stressed that the company would like to be a “constructive partner.”
“From minerals and metals to energy production and transmission to the data center, from training artificial intelligence models to application distribution, this is one of the most complex and expensive value chains in history,” says Saxena. “No country can do this from start to finish.”
Saxena said he sees this moment as an opportunity for Canada to determine exactly where in that value chain the country wants to play, and then identify foreign partners who can help export some of those capabilities and build its domestic capabilities in other areas.
Lehane noted that Canada is one of the birthplaces of artificial intelligence and said he believes the country is in a strong position to play a leading role in the future of technology. He said Canada has several key competitive advantages: strong artificial intelligence talent, access to energy and capital. Lehane said every country faces two other pieces of the puzzle: data and chips.
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OpenAI is interested in securing data center capacity in Canada to support its operations here. This could mean the firm builds infrastructure or acts as an initial tenant for developers who require commitment from clients.
OpenAI's current work in Canada includes partnership with Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify to allow merchants to sell directly via ChatGPT.
OpenAI is also struggling with copyright claim from major Canadian publishers including The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, which it argued needs to be heard in the USA. Lehane would not comment on the lawsuit, but acknowledged that “everyone recognizes that these are really important issues that need to be resolved.” He added that the company is working to identify win-win models and establish partnerships with publishers.
OpenAI announced two Canadian partnerships this week. The company is partnering with local accelerator Creative Destruction Lab to help domestic charities and non-profits adopt AI, and is also working with the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce to make the OpenAI AI certification program available to the organization's members. At the same time the company disclosed that ChatGPT has over 800 million weekly active users worldwide.
“This is not the end of the story,” Lehane said. “Perhaps this is a prologue to what we hope will be a much longer story.”
Image courtesy of Elevate. Photo by the author Brandon Ferguson Media.
