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Ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is welcome in France, French Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Saturday, a day after the creator of ChatGPT fired Altman.
“Sam Altman, his team and their talents are welcome in France, where we are accelerating [efforts] to put artificial intelligence at the service of the common good,” Barrot said in a post on X.
OpenAI’s board on Friday said it had lost confidence in Altman, according to a blog post by the company. He is being replaced by chief technology officer Mira Murati.
Altman met with French President Emmanuel Macron in May to discuss the place of France and Europe in the global race for artificial intelligence (AI). It was part of a tour around Europe by the OpenAI chief to pitch his version of AI rulemaking, which also included stops in Germany, the U.K., Spain and Poland.
The EU has been trying to come to grips with regulating AI virtually since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launch in November 2022. The software is able to create texts such as songs, scripts, articles and software based on written prompts.
Macron, in a video message to tech leaders on Friday, said generative AI has huge potential and that France plans a conference about AI in Paris next year, Reuters reported. He said a “civilizational challenge” for France is to make sure AI algorithms are not only fed English-language content.
“I want it to also reflect our French culture and language and our way of thinking,” Macron said, adding that France would open its databases to AI, while protecting copyright and ensuring adequate regulation, according to the report.
Altman this year has played an active role in shaping the U.S.’s response to AI, meeting with President Joe Biden and other CEOs, and testifying in a high-profile congressional hearing in May.
