OpenAI Chief Sam Altman Becomes the First To Get Indonesia's 'Golden Visa'

Indonesia has awarded OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman its first "Golden Visa" -- a week after the program was launched to attract foreign investment to Southeast Asia's largest economy. CNBC reports: "There are several categories of golden visas apart from those based on investment/capital investment, one of which is the golden visa which is given to figures who have an international reputation and can provide benefits for Indonesia," Silmy Karim, Indonesia's director general of immigration, said in a statement. "With this golden visa, the hope is that Altman can contribute towards the development and use of AI in Indonesia," Karim said.

Altman's Golden Visa is for 10 years. As a holder of the visa, the American entrepreneur will get to enjoy priority screening at airports across the country's vast archipelago, along with longer periods of stay, and ease of entry and exit.

Re:How is gonna do this...

[GrumpySteen]

Believe it or not, more than one person named Sam exists in the world. Sam Altman is not Sam Bankman-Fried.

Re:

[NoWayNoShapeNoForm]

Believe it or not, more than one person named Sam exists in the world. Sam Altman is not Sam Bankman-Fried.

You do know that the trolls on /. don't care about those little details?

Golden visa

[Anonymous Coward]

This is where they piss on you when you enter the country.

Oh the irony

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Sam Altman, the figurehead of the one technology that is set to make even the cheapest labor too expensive, is welcome with open arms in Indonesia...

Someone didn't quite think this through.

Re:

[Visarga]

I bet they thought it through better than you. No matter what Indonesia does, AI is still coming for them, better to prepare sooner.

Good for him, it's a long road to do it in the US

[spiritplumber]

I got a NIW green card so I can't complain. Turned it in last month when I finally got naturalized

ChatGPT congratulates Sam

[iaintarobot]

Ah, Sam, you've won the Golden Visa, have you? How delightful! Welcome to the whimsical world of Indonesia's technicolor delights, where the streets are paved with pixelated chocolate and the visa applications are processed by a chorus of singing chatbots! It's a place where even our oompa-loompa-inspired AI assistants can serenade you with machine-generated melodies as you embark on your Indonesian escapades. Just remember, Sam, in this land of enchantment, even the humblest satay skewer may hold the secre

Hmm

[sonoronos]

I am guessing that Sam Altman has already been making a lot of trips to and from Indonesia in order for the country to offer him what is basically commuter status.

Does anyone know if that is true? If so, why Indonesia?

Re:

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

If so, why Indonesia?

I guess no other country is desperate enough to try to attract this potential PR disaster on two legs. Because l guarantee you when AI starts creating massive unemployment everywhere, nobody will want to be associated with Sam Altman in any way, shape or form.

Re:

[Visarga]

That won't happen because AI is actually not that smart. It is better than random people at random tasks but worse than experts in their fields. And it stumbles, it can't recover, and needs someone to help it all the time. That makes AI without human in the loop a no-go for the foreseeable future. And AI with human in the loop is just a human tool in the end, will add 10-20% boost to productivity but not 100x to 1000x.

Re:

[ShanghaiBill]

Several other countries sell visas.

Malta has a golden visa that allows the new citizen to travel anywhere in the EU.

Several Caribbean countries have golden visas.

Maybe he preferred Indonesia. I've been there and liked it. The food is great, and the people are friendly. Indonesia is a huge country, stretching across 5000 kilometers, so there is plenty to see and do.

Re:

[hjf]

Even the US does. It costs you around $200K and you get an investor visa which allows you to reside indefinitely as long as you keep your investment.

Re:

[systemd-anonymousd]

Must want to be employed as his army of robots that rate AI output for the training loop. And will host massive server farms

This gives him a fallback plan

[Required Snark]

If/when he goes bust, he can always smuggle stuff to and from Indonesia. No one will check his baggage and he will just be waived through.

But we still don't know

[Visarga]

We still don't know what Sam had for breakfast this morning. What is the press doing?

Corporations more important than Country Leaders..

[kozyel]

Dystopian writers have been predicting that corporates will become bigger / more important than actual countries for decades .. is this another signpost along that road?

Re:

[ShanghaiBill]

You should read a history book.

There was once a time when corporations raised armies and waged war in their own name.

Battle of Plassey [wikipedia.org]

Shop around?

[ElizabethGreene]

This program isn't particularly unique. Several countries, including the US, will allow you to purchase citizenship with a sizeable investment in that country. A handful will even let you do it without renouncing your existing citizenship.

Here in the US it's the EB-5 Visa. In the UK it was the Tier 1 program, but I think they changed it. The cheapest one that lets you keep your existing citizenship is, IIRC, $200k in the Dominican Republic.

(Hey CryptoBros, don't get any ideas about skipping the country to help with your tax problem. The US taxes its citizens foreign income too, and if you denounce your citizenship, there's a good chance you're on the hook for the Exit tax too which *includes* unrealized gains.)

Interesting concept

[cascadingstylesheet]

An entrance policy based on what is believed to actually benefit the country.

talkin' 'bout my girl

[groobly]

Everyone wants to screw the same girl. Indonesia just got in line.