OpenAI Pushes for Greater Worldwide AI Use in Education and Health

OpenAI is reportedly working to expand the reach of its products in countries without widespread artificial intelligence (AI) access.

This initiative, dubbed “OpenAI For Countries” aims to push governments to construct more data centers and lobby for greater AI use in fields like health, education and disaster preparedness, Reuters reported Wednesday (Jan. 21).

“Most countries are still operating far short of what today’s AI systems make possible,” the startup said in a report shared with Reuters. The report added that the company is pitching the project to government officials this week at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

According to Reuters, 11 countries have signed up for the project. For example, Estonia has agreed to include OpenAI’s education tool, ChatGPT Edu, into its secondary schools, while in Norway and the United Arab Emirates, OpenAI is working with other companies to construct data centers and become their first customer.

OpenAI executives say they also hope to work with governments in areas like disaster planning. In South Korea, the company is looking into a deal with the government’s water authority to develop a real-time, water-disaster warning and defense system against water problems caused by climate change.

The report comes one day after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned that an AI bubble could form if the technology does not expand beyond big tech and wealthier economies to a wider range of industries.

“For this not to be a bubble by definition, it requires that the benefits of this are much more evenly spread,” Nadella said at Davos.

He added that a “telltale sign of if it’s a bubble” would be if tech companies were the only ones benefiting from the AI, instead of other sectors. However, Nadella said he was confident that AI would eventually be transformative across industries.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote this week about the “shared reality” that global banking chiefs, FinTech leaders and regulators are converging on this week at Davos: the idea that AI is transforming finance faster than institutions can adapt on their own.

“The path forward depends on trust, collaboration and regulation that enables innovation without weakening resilience,” the report said.