OpenAI yesterday said it would develop artificial intelligence (AI) products for South Korea with chat app operator Kakao Corp, unveiling a second major alliance with a high-profile Asian partner this week.
In a whirlwind tour through Asia, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Monday announced a partnership with Japan’s Softbank Group Corp and is, according to sources, scheduled to visit India today where he is seeking to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Like Softbank, Kakao said it would be using technology developed by the ChatGPT creator for its products.
Photo: Bloomberg
Kakao operates South Korea’s dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, which has a commanding 97 percent domestic market share and has expanded into areas such as e-commerce, payments and gaming. It has positioned AI as a new engine of growth, but analysts said it has lagged behind local rival Naver Corp in the AI race.
“We are particularly interested in AI and messaging,” Altman told a joint news conference with Kakao CEO Shina Chung in Seoul.
Altman also said that many South Korean companies would be important contributors to the Stargate data center project, a venture between OpenAI and Oracle Corp to build AI capacity in the US.
He declined to elaborate, saying he wants to keep partnership conversations confidential.
The OpenAI CEO met SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won earlier yesterday. He also planned to meet Samsung chairman Jay Y. Lee and Softbank Group CEO Masayoshi Son in Seoul later in the day, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported.
Son yesterday told reporters that he would be discussing updates on Stargate and “potential cooperation” with Samsung, as he was entering Samsung’s office in Seoul.
Asked whether he would request Samsung’s investment in the project, he said: “Nothing specific,” adding that they have to start cooperation talks.
SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics produce high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI processors.
Samsung and Softbank declined to comment on the meeting.
Last month, US President Donald Trump announced private sector investment of up to US$500 billion to fund AI infrastructure, saying that the market for AI products was growing “super fast.”
Asked whether OpenAI was looking at joining and investing in South Korea’s AI computing center project, Altman said the US company was “actively considering” such a move.
Last month, the South Korean government said it planned to build a national AI computing center for the Stargate data center project.
“There is so much happening in Korea that will be critical for that,” Altman said.
He added that South Korean energy, semiconductor and Internet companies made the country an important market for OpenAI, adding that South Korean demand would draw on investment from the public and private sectors worth up to 2 trillion won (US$1.4 billion).
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