LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - OpenAI will offer Britain's

government and businesses an opportunity to store data in the UK

from Friday, helping unlock the potential of AI for more

companies and public services, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy

will announce on Thursday.

The plan, secured through OpenAI's partnership with the

Ministry of Justice (MoJ), will enhance privacy and security as

well as reinforcing resilience to cyber threats, the government

said.

Led by Sam Altman, OpenAI upended the tech industry with the

launch of ChatGPT, its AI chatbot in late 2022.

It signed a partnership with the British government in July

to work together to use AI to improve public services.

Lammy, who will announce the sovereign capability at the

OpenAI Frontiers event, said AI was already improving efficiency

in the MoJ.

More than 1,000 probation officers would be equipped with

Justice Transcribe, an AI tool that records and transcribes

conversations with offenders, saving hours spent transferring

notes into digital systems, he said.

"By adopting AI, we're cutting the burdensome admin and

ensuring frontline staff can spend more of their time doing the

things only humans can do - monitoring offenders and protecting

the British public," he said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the number of people using its

products in the UK had increased fourfold in the past year.

"It's exciting to see them using AI to save time, increase

productivity, and get more done," he said.

UK data residency will be an option for customers using API

Platform, ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Edu.

OpenAI's Matt Weaver, head of EMEA solutions engineers, said

pilot projects in the MoJ had sparked interest from other

departments.

"We expect adoption to accelerate now we've got the first

deployment taking place," he said in an interview.

ChatGPT, which competes with Anthropic, Perplexity and

others as well as big tech companies like Google and Microsoft ( MSFT ),

on Tuesday announced ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered web browser

built around its popular chatbot.

Its arrival could accelerate a shift to AI-driven search as

users seek tailored information rather than keyword-based

results.