I got a spot. We were shown how to copy and paste data from excel and other data sources into the chat interface. We had sample data to work with, there was always someone in class who would say "mine didn't work." The developers in the room asked about codex, the instructor said she wasn't a developer.
We did get a certificate though. There was nothing they could teach that you couldn't learn by using the free version in your own time. Whatever they are doing with the Maltese government is just to increase the monthly active user count.
But that’s besides the point, the whole initiative is self-defeating by design. This isn’t like power, it’s something humans do inherently possess, this is simply a way to amplify what already exists. Intelligent people using AI generally seem to be more productive than when they don’t use it, and lazy or unintelligent people generally see cognitive decline, at least based on what I’ve heard online but I could be wrong on that.
So saying “this is where you get intelligence” is both false marketing and destructive to OpenAI as a company, since by all definitions, it isn’t true.
Just look at this list of services included in Google's AI Pro subscription[1]. Google took everything it could think any consumer might need and bundled for $20/mo. There's even $10 GCP credit (that you can use for AI API calls).
[1] https://support.google.com/googleone/answer/14534406?hl=en
I run local models. They're fun to play with. I get a bit of a dopamine hit when it works.
They're selling addiction. This is fucking disgusting.
For OpenAI because they get a lot of money and and for the government because they can keep tabs on how people use LLMs to make sure they're not doing anything naughty.
Yes, ChatGPT has a large user base, but Malta's not a particularly meaningful datapoint in terms of the population size.
"Malta’s corruption is not just in the heart of government, it’s the entire body"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/03/malta-...
Malta has a population of only 550k.
Everyone in Malta could already, before this deal/plan, and even without it now, use ChatGPT (or any other LLM model/service, whether free or premium.)
Next, force an eyeball scan on the peasant population.
Malta has a population of 500k. Let's assume 100k people use MaltaGPT daily, and they send an average of 10 messages per day, so roughly 1M messages per day. That averages 694 per minute, but at peak could be 3-5x that, so let's say 3000 per minute. Usage will of course vary by day of week and time of day (they could partner with a Pacific island and share inference hardware).
Those 3000 messages per minute translate to 50 messages per second. Let's say average prompt input is 5k tokens, and output is 500. So 250k tokens per second for prompt processing (let's ignore caching for simplicity) and 25k tokens per second for output decode.
If we take a 500B dense model, that concerts to roughly 1 trillion flops per token. So we need 250 petaflops per second of prompt processing and 25 petaflops for output decode. So 275 PFLOPS in compute.
That may sound like a lot, however a NVIDIA DGX B200 machine (8xB200) has a compute of 144 PFLOPS at FP4. That is assuming 100% efficiency which isn't really possible, and we also need to factor in memory usage which we would be limited more by than compute. So let's say we'd need 10 of them. For an entire country to have a sovereign version of ChatGPT.
The cloud cost to rent one machine is around $50/hour, so that would mean our cluster comes to $4.8m per year. However the list price of a machine is around €400k, so the price to buy the cluster outright would be around €5m (you need the rest of the data center too), with operating costs of around €500k per year.
So per citizen: €10 upfront and €1 per year.
They import food and water. Malta is very hot during the summer. There's AC unit everywhere and it's a default cooling unit as well, as there's no "European winter" there. Everyone collects rain water and stores it on the roof.
They are one tsunami away from being decimated.
There's one company renting servers and it's full of online casinos, just so the companies meet the regulatory requirement.
Malta is the worst place on earth to have a data center I can think of.
That is how AI boosterism works here.
I'm Maltese so feel free to be as detailed as needed.
snort
My analogy is using AI is like using a navigation system, you can end up delegating everything to it and drive into a river...
Lol, they are literally just promising to make people fungible. Tale as old as time.
That’s whats happens in two sided markets. Everyone’s the product.
The original adage of “if you’re not paying, you’re the product” doesn’t necessarily rule out the converse. The fact that the grandfather comment made a freudian slip makes it funnier.
Many jurisdictions literally force them to put education on the boxes.
Your body also generates electricity and natural gas. Do you also get upset when energy companies claim to provide these services as a utility?
We do and we don't. If you would go out there and talk to a random person about elliptic curves and matrix multiplications and whether you hit a performance ceiling in a specific 2x2 multiplication thingy with Karatsuba and wnaf, they would not know half the words, but the lying and flattering machine will be able to hold the conversation.
The thing will not get all things right and bullshit me about DSTU4145 using normal basis, will lie about A being set to 1 for all standard curves, but it's definitely more intelligence that you can get from a taxi driver.
If it's not general superintelligence right there for five bucks a piece, I don't know what is
I believe the logical term "converse" means swapping the conclusion and the condition in a logical statement, ie converse(if A then B) = if B then A
So here the converse would be "if you're the product, you're not paying". Which doesn't exactly make sense to me as a claim to make here. Did you just mean to reinforce your first sentence? In which case, I think you mean "the inverse", not the converse. However, I have only used the word converse in a "formal logic" scope (proofs) so I'm not sure if it has a more flexible meaning in informal language use.
Nobody is obligated to use it. It just moves the price to $0 for people in Malta who choose to use it. Same service.
so: I doubt anyone has to care about that pesky GDPR if they buy the government of Malta.
Is a calculator intelligent? I can 'talk' to it via pushing buttons.
Does AI actually provide intelligence?
> How do these EU citizens submit a request for all their personal data to be deleted from OpenAI records
Probably by sending an e-mail to a designated address, like most services that operate in the EU, but you can read their TOS if you'd like to be sure.
Wikipedia has existed for decades...
I can’t.
So the fact that you get it free after doing some basic due diligence is actually a big deal in the local context.
I mean, what's the point of this question even. The thing is either useful or fun or it's not. I personally think the whole AI is the work of devil tempting us, but some people would say that about pork sausages and Paulaner and I like my pork sausages with Paulaner.
Care to elaborate or we have become completely apathetic to any display of sleaze?
I suspect in a few years it's going to be strange to talk to him and other people there. It's already hard to explain to people that "Yeah, you can have a phone call and it can sound like your dad but it might just be a chat bot."
If I never have to hear anything about AI ever again it will be too soon
If you want my commentary on the political context, obviously I think it's not very intelligent for nations to be trusting a US corporation with all of their citizens' data. I think the most impactful use of LLMs is going to be their usage as surveillance and propaganda tools, so this is probably not a prudent decision. But legally, as pertains to GDPR, this is not different from the status quo in any way.
OpenAI
OpenAI and the Government of Malta are today announcing a world’s first partnership to roll out ChatGPT Plus to all Maltese citizens. The initiative will provide access to intelligence and empower citizens through an AI literacy course to build practical AI skills and benefit from the technology in their everyday lives.
At OpenAI, we’re turning intelligence into a global utility. We believe that, like electricity, intelligence should be available for people, businesses, and institutions to use as much as they need, where and when they need it. That vision only matters if people can actually use these tools in ways that improve their own lives and communities.
Malta’s AI for All initiative(opens in a new window) will offer people of all backgrounds the opportunity to learn how AI can be used responsibly through a course developed by the University of Malta. The course is designed to help people understand what AI is, what it can and can’t do, and how to use it responsibly at home and work. After the course is completed, citizens can access ChatGPT Plus for one year at no cost to them.
The first phase of the programme will launch in May, with the Malta Digital Innovation Authority managing distribution to eligible participants. The programme will scale as more Maltese residents and citizens abroad complete the course.
The Maltese Minister for Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects, Silvio Schembri said, “Through this AI for everyone course we are making sure that every citizen, regardless of their background, has the chance to build the confidence and skills needed to thrive in a digital world. By pairing this education with free access to the most advanced digital tools available today, we are turning an unfamiliar concept into practical assistance for our families, students, and workers. Malta is the first country to launch a partnership of this scale because we refuse to let our citizens stay behind in the digital age. We are putting our people at the very forefront of global change.”
“With this partnership, Malta is leading Europe and the world in bringing AI to all its citizens” said George Osborne, Head of OpenAI for Countries. “Intelligence is becoming a national utility and all governments have an important role to play in making sure their populations have both the access and the skills to make the most of AI. So I congratulate the Maltese authorities for their vision and ambition on behalf of their people. This is exactly the kind of strategic initiative that will speed AI adoption and bring the benefits of this transformative technology to the economy and the everyday lives of people. Where Malta leads, I hope others will follow.”
The partnership reflects a growing recognition by countries that want practical ways to help people build confidence using AI and how to apply it to real tasks. Malta’s model of AI adoption brings together a locally designed course, a clear route to access ChatGPT Plus, and a national programme intended to help citizens use AI with confidence in ways that support learning, work, creativity, and public participation.
The partnership, tailored to Malta’s needs and national AI priorities, is the latest under the OpenAI for Countries initiative, OpenAI’s work to support governments and institutions as they move from early AI interest to strategic national adoption. Rather than a one-size-fits-all model, OpenAI for Countries is built around local priorities, whether that means education, workforce training, public services, startup support, or AI literacy. OpenAI is already working with governments in countries like Estonia and Greece to support their national education systems.