"South Korea possesses powerful industries related to AI, including semiconductors and energy, and stands as one of the nations actively embracing AI technology," Altman said at OpenAI's "Builder Lab" workshop, the company's first official event in the country.
Altman’s visit comes as OpenAI faces mounting competition from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, prompting the company to accelerate its global partnerships. With S
uth Korea’s strength in semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and cloud computing, OpenAI appears eager to cement its foothold in the region amid the intensifying AI race.
His visit included high-profile meetings with top South Korean business leaders, notably SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. The two have previously discussed AI collaborations, meeting in January at Seoul's Walker Hill Hotel and again in June at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters.
Discussions between Altman and Chey reportedly centered on AI semiconductor development and infrastructure expansion, with a particular focus on SK hynix’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply and SK Telecom’s AI data center construction plans.
Altman also took the stage at a joint press conference with Kakao CEO Jung Shin-a, announcing the first official partnership between OpenAI and Kakao.
Kakao, the country’s dominant tech and messaging platform, unveiled plans to integrate OpenAI’s technology across its services and co-develop AI-driven products. With 50 million users, Kakao aims to seamlessly embed OpenAI’s models into its ecosystem, with Jung expressing excitement about making "every imaginable AI service a reality."
Altman’s packed itinerary on Tuesday also included meetings with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son, exploring potential trilateral AI collaborations between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan.
OpenAI and SoftBank recently launched the Stargate initiative, a project set to invest more than $400 billion over four years to establish AI data centers in the United States.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has engaged with Samsung’s foundry business, having toured its Pyeongtaek facilities last year to explore AI chip manufacturing.
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