LONDON — The executive at the helm of one the world’s leading AI firms treated the U.K.’s technology secretary to a meal worth just £30 last month.
U.K. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle received the hospitality from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — whose net worth is listed by Forbes as $1.7 billion — on April 6, according to newly released transparency data. The data doesn’t show where the pair went for their meal.
The revelation comes after Kyle has faced accusations of being too cozy with U.S. Big Tech firms in his bid to position the U.K. as a leading AI superpower.
Just two weeks before the meeting with Altman, Kyle told an AI industry conference in California that the U.K. would be “an agile, proactive partner” to tech firms, and invited them to train and deploy their technology in the country.
But Kyle admitted “regret” last week over the U.K. government’s messaging around AI and copyright. The U.K. government described proposals to require copyright holders to “opt out” of AI model training as its “preferred option,” causing uproar among artists and creative sector groups.
OpenAI, meanwhile, has argued an “opt out” model doesn’t go far enough to encourage AI investment in the U.K., and has also pushed back against attempts to place transparency duties on AI firms.
In November Kyle argued the U.K. should exercise a “sense of humility” and use “statecraft” when dealing with U.S. Big Tech firms.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and OpenAI have been contacted for comment.
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