Former junior minister for artificial intelligence Dara Calleary told executives in a company founded by Elon Musk that the opportunities presented by AI “are too valuable to squander”, writes Craig Hughes.
The current Government has pivoted heavily towards embracing AI with restrictions on data centres lifted and a decision made to press ahead with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, in a bid to bolster energy security to power AI.
Speaking in Washington DC last Friday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the “demonisation of data centres” needs to end and that Ireland needs to “step up” if it is to be a key player in the AI industry.
On September 4 last year, then-Minister of State with responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Mr Calleary attended a “confidential dinner” with executives from OpenAI in a private room in the Michelin-starred Kai restaurant in Galway city.
OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – was founded by billionaire Mr Musk, Sam Altman and others in 2015 as a AI research organisation.
In 2018, Mr Musk, who now heads up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in US president Donald Trump’s administration, resigned from OpenAI’s board due to a potential conflict of interest.
Documents released to the Irish Daily Mail show that the dinner in Galway was attended by around 15 people including Government officials and business leaders in the field of AI.
Globally, OpenAI employs 2,000 people, mainly in the US, while its London office is focused on research and development.
In September 2023, the firm opened a Dublin office which acts as a data controller for its customers in the European Economic Area (EEA).
A prepared speech by Mr Calleary, who has since been promoted to Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development, shows he told the dinner that he saw enormous potential for Irish small and medium-sized businesses from AI.
He said: “For Ireland I see a huge productivity dividend for our SMEs – 92% of the businesses in Ireland are micro-enterprises employing fewer than ten people.
“The personal productivity dividend for such business from AI assistants and other AI tools is huge.”
He also spoke about the potential for AI use in the medtech sector, adding: “Think about health and AI. Ireland has 450 medtech companies and almost 200 digital health companies.
“The largest medtech companies in the world are in Ireland, 75% of those are carrying out R&D [research and development] here.
“The potential to apply and deploy AI in all parts of the medtech and assistive technology value chain – from research and development, automation in manufacturing, to logistics and supply chain – are enormous, ultimately improving our collective health and wellbeing.”
Mr Calleary said the presence of multinationals in tech and medtech “has contributed to the start of new entrepreneurial ventures”.
A spokesman for the Fianna Fáil minister said that he had nothing further to add, but that the prepared speech may have differed from the delivered remarks.
The documents show that OpenAI met with Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke and IDA Ireland officials in the company’s San Francisco headquarters in September.
During his tenure as junior minister with responsibility for AI, Mr Calleary founded the AI Advisory Council, an independent expert group.
The council says Ireland could become Europe’s “preferred base” for AI start-ups and products, but “urgency is needed to keep pace” with the changing shape of the technology’s future.
Photo: Dara Calleary. Photo: Sam Boal /Rollingnews.ie
