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).
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS