OpenAI accelerates South Korea alliances… Relay meetings with domestic corporate leaders including Lee Jae-yong.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who is visiting South Korea, held a series of meetings on the 4th with the CEOs of major IT companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Kakao. The active pursuit of alliances with domestic companies by OpenAI is seen as a response to the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. Recently, DeepSeek has suggested that high-performance models can be implemented at a low cost, shaking up the AI ecosystem. According to business sources on the 4th, Sam Altman began a "trilateral meeting" in the afternoon at Samsung Electronics' Seocho headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul, with Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Masayoshi Son, Chairman of SoftBank Group. It is reported that the discussions focused on the implementation of the large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project, 'Stargate.' Chairman Son arrived in the afternoon at 2:40 PM, after entering the country earlier in the morning. Prior to Son's arrival, CEO Altman was reportedly already at the Seocho headquarters. Also present at the meeting were executives responsible for semiconductors, including Jeon Young-hyun, Vice Chairman and Head of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division. Chairman Son, speaking with the press, stated that the "trilateral meeting with Samsung Electronics and OpenAI" would focus on updates regarding the Stargate project and potential collaborations with the Samsung Group. Stargate is a large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure expansion project in the U.S., involving an investment of $500 billion (approximately 731 trillion won), with partners such as NVIDIA and Microsoft. Earlier, it was reported that CEO Altman and Chairman Son had collaborated on establishing a joint venture, 'Stargate,' for AI infrastructure development. It is expected that Samsung Electronics will also participate in this project. This trilateral meeting is particularly significant as it marks Lee Jae-yong's first public engagement since his acquittal in the appeals trial, and discussions likely covered not only large-scale investments but also potential future growth drivers to help Samsung Electronics overcome its recent performance slump. There are forecasts that cooperation between OpenAI and ARM, a subsidiary of SoftBank, in AI semiconductor development will gain momentum. Earlier in the day, CEO Altman also met with Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, to discuss potential collaboration between the two companies and attended Kakao's Media Day. The meeting between CEO Altman and Chairman Chey took place around 9:30 AM at the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Among the SK Group executives in attendance were Kwak Noh-jeong, President of SK hynix, and Yoo Young-sang, President of SK Telecom. It is observed that CEO Altman and Chairman Chey discussed collaborations in the semiconductor field, including SK hynix's HBM (high-bandwidth memory), as well as AI assistant services. This meeting marks the third encounter between the two companies, following their previous meetings in January and June of last year. In June, they met at OpenAI's headquarters in San Francisco. After the meeting with Chairman Chey, when asked by the press, "How was today's meeting?" CEO Altman responded with "Wonderful" and left, while Chairman Chey did not make any special remarks. Following his meeting with Chairman Chey, CEO Altman appeared at Kakao's Media Day. During this event, OpenAI announced a strategic partnership with Kakao and outlined plans for collaboration in the AI business. CEO Altman's appearance at the Media Day and the strategic partnership between Kakao and OpenAI were kept highly confidential until the event. Kakao is the first company in South Korea to form a strategic partnership with OpenAI. The focus of the collaboration between Kakao and OpenAI will be on making AI services more accessible to a wider range of users, with plans to pursue ▲technical cooperation for AI service advancement and ▲joint product development. Jung Ji-young, CEO of Kakao, explained the background of the partnership during the keynote speech, stating, "Based on the capabilities we have accumulated over a long period of time, serving the daily lives of many people, Kakao's role in today's era is to present 'personalized AI that best understands users.'" She added, "By collaborating with OpenAI, which has global technological competitiveness, we will lead the popularization of AI services and provide innovative customer experiences." Altman, CEO of OpenAI, expressed his long-term appreciation for Kakao, stating, "I like Kakao from a long-term perspective and share their AI vision." He also mentioned, "I am particularly interested in the integration of AI and messaging. There is much to explore in this area, and messaging has a wide range of applications, not just for work-related matters." Meanwhile, Altman's expansive moves appear to be in response to the rapid pursuit of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup. Recently, DeepSeek adopted optimization techniques to maximize efficiency, suggesting that implementing high-performance models might not necessarily require overwhelming computing resources, which shocked the industry. There is growing analysis that DeepSeek's open-source model could broaden market competition, providing opportunities for latecomers, including those in South Korea. Observers speculate that OpenAI is pursuing an aggressive strategy to stay ahead of DeepSeek through extensive collaborations with domestic companies such as Samsung, SK, and Kakao. ChatGPT를 사용하여 번역한 기사입니다.
