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ChatGPT founder Sam Altman visits Nigeria in AI tour

Mr Altman also spoke to students at the MUSON centre about the future powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

• May 20, 2023
Sam Altman
Sam Altman at the MUSON centre [Credit; weetracker]

The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, is in Nigeria to interact with select members of the tech community in an apparent move to broaden interests in the burgeoning artificial intelligence.

On Friday, Mr Altman was seen in pictures making the rounds on social media speaking with different stakeholders of the Lagos tech communities.

Mr Altman also spoke to students at the MUSON centre about the future powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Between May and June, Mr Altman is scheduled to go to 17 locations around the world, including Toronto, New Delhi, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Brussels, and Singapore, with Lagos being the only African nation on his travel schedule.

According to reports,  Mr Altman has encouraged those who were interested to fill out a form requesting basic information such as the person’s name, email address, and the reason for their wish to meet. 

The AI trailblazer has emerged at the forefront of what some are already calling an impending AI revolution.

He also invited those with the ability to organise a meeting of 500 or more people to specify.

Developers are already producing amazing generative AI-powered products in Nigeria, the country that houses Africa’s most active tech hub. Among them are Justin Irabor’s Kainene Vos Savant and Richmond Alake’s audio-to-text AI automation tool, along with a study partner on Telegram.

OpenAI made ChatGPT accessible to the general public in November 2022, displaying its outstanding capacity to quickly pick up and adapt to new knowledge. This advanced language model excited people because it was made to produce responses in a conversational manner.

In addition to meeting with OpenAI users and developers, Mr Altman also disclosed that there are plans to interact with lawmakers in order to gather feedback and ideas on AI. Just two days ago, the CEO of OpenAI spoke before the U.S. Senate and said he supported government controls on AI.

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