The creator of ChatGPT chose London for the first office outside the US

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the London office will be «an opportunity to attract world-class talent to the business.» Photo: Sven Hoppe. /dpa via AP

The company behind ChatGPT opens an office in London, the first outside the US, in support of Rishi Sunak's ambition to turn the UK into an artificial intelligence hub.

OpenAI said it had chosen the capital as its its base because of the «vibrant tech ecosystem» and «exceptional talent» in London.

The company is also hiring lobbyists in the UK as ministers seek to make the UK a beacon for laws governing artificial intelligence.

OpenAI has become the most famous AI company in the world since the release of ChatGPT last November.

The chatbot has since attracted hundreds of millions of users and led to job alerts and wide-ranging social upheaval.

Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, visited the UK last month on a European tour and said he was looking for international office. He said he was considering places like France.

Rishi Sunak has championed the UK as a base for AI development and regulation. with other world leaders, including Joe Biden. Photo: Simon Walker/10 Downing Street

The UK has proposed new artificial intelligence laws that are seen as more business-friendly than the strict EU rules currently in place.

OpenAI Wednesday posted a job posting for a London-based «Head of Policy and Partnerships». and appointed Sandro Gianella, formerly of payments giant Stripe, as Head of Policy for Europe.

OpenAI said its UK policy chief will be tasked with seeking «further regulation and industry standards» and building relationships with policy makers.< /p>

Mr Altman said: «We see this expansion as an opportunity to attract world-class talent and stimulate innovation in the design and policy of AGI [Artificial General Intelligence].»

AGI is widely considered the holy grail of AI. , and allow machines to essentially think for themselves rather than just perform certain limited tasks.

Mr Altman said: “We are excited about what the future holds and how our London office will contribute to building and deploying secure AI.”

OpenAI said The London office will focus on both the development of artificial intelligence technology and policy related to it. That's because Mr. Sunak plans to host an AI summit later this year to encourage world leaders to agree on how to develop systems safely.

DeepMind, Google's AI Lab, is based in London's Cross, while Anthropic, another well-funded AI startup, is also opening an office in the UK capital, and data giant Palantir has made the UK its European AI hub.

OpenAI already has several employees. in the UK who work remotely with main operations in San Francisco.