OpenAI CEO Sam Altman gets first-ever Indonesian golden visa

Indonesia has granted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman the country's first golden visa in a move aimed at attracting wealthy foreign investors to Southeast Asia's biggest economy, officials said Tuesday.

Silmy Karim, the director-general of immigration, confirmed in a statement on Monday that Altman received a 10-year visa which was granted to him due to his potential contributions to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in Indonesia.

Altman, the co-founder of the ChatGPT bot sensation, said: "Once the holders of Golden Visa arrive in Indonesia, they no longer need to apply for a temporary stay permit at the immigration office.

"We are rolling out the red carpet in return for the resources they provide to Indonesia."

The US-based tech entrepreneur was also granted a special visa because of his international reputation as the head of the AI research and development company, the official said.

With the golden visa, the 38-year-old would be able to bypass immigration queues at Indonesia's airports and more easily enter and exit the country, according to the statement.

Indonesia has rolled out golden visas for investors who will get a five-year stay if they invest $2.5 million in the country and 10 years if they spend double that amount.

The country is looking to develop an AI ecosystem and community in the country as the industry booms worldwide, officials have said.

Altman has not yet made his investment plans in Indonesia public, but his recent trip to Jakarta to give a speech on the future of AI suggests that he is quite interested in the country's technical environment, Mint reported.

The visa may open the door to partnerships that advance Indonesia's reputation in the AI and technology industries.

By encouraging investments in AI infrastructure, OpenAI, under Altman's direction, has attracted interest on a worldwide scale.

ChatGPT is one of the tools the company has created that has transformed the way artificial intelligence is approached by using large data centres to simulate human intelligence.

As a result, there have been numerous investments made worldwide to build and expand infrastructures that support AI.