Officials in Indonesia revealed on Monday that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been granted the country’s first golden visa in an effort to attract wealthy overseas investors to Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Altman was granted a 10-year visa, according to the director-general of immigration, Silmy Karim, in appreciation of his potential contributions to the progress of artificial intelligence (AI) in Indonesia.
“Once Golden Visa holders arrive in Indonesia, they no longer need to apply for a temporary stay permit at the immigration office,” Karim explained.
With the golden visa, the 38-year-old would be able to bypass immigration lines at Indonesian airports and travel in and out of the country more rapidly, according to the statement.
Indonesia has issued golden visas for investors, which grant them a five-year stay after investing $2.5 million and a ten-year stay after paying twice as much.
According to officials, as the AI industry grows globally, the country intends to establish a community and ecosystem there.
Altman has not made public his investment ambitions in Indonesia, but his recent trip to Jakarta to give a speech on the future of AI implies that he is quite interested in the country’s technical environment, according to Mint.
The visa could pave the way for collaborations that help Indonesia’s reputation in the AI and technology industries.
Under Altman’s leadership, OpenAI has sparked global interest by pushing investments in AI infrastructure.
ChatGPT is one of the tools developed by the firm that has altered the way artificial intelligence is addressed by simulating human intelligence in massive data centres.
As a result, enormous investments have been made around the world to construct and enhance AI infrastructure.
