OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visits Seoul to discuss new partnerships with Korean tech giants

Korean tech giant Kakao and ChatGPT creator OpenAI announced a strategic partnership on Tuesday in Seoul, unveiling plans to integrate OpenAI’s ever-evolving artificial intelligence technology into KakaoTalk and other key services.
“Kakao is committed to securing the best AI technology and turning all imaginable AI-era services into reality. We’re delighted to partner with OpenAI in this strategic collaboration,” Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a said during a press conference at a Seoul hotel earlier in the day.
She added that ChatGPT’s capabilities would be incorporated into various Kakao projects, including its flagship services such as KakaoTalk messenger.
“Beyond simply leveraging the latest AI advancements, this partnership underscores our effort to co-develop AI products tailored for Kakao’s 50 million users,” she said.
Since September last year, Kakao and OpenAI have explored multiple areas of cooperation, including technology, services and business, under the shared vision of making AI services more accessible to the public, the Korean tech giant's chief explained.
As part of the collaboration, Kakao is to integrate OpenAI's latest AI technology into its key services, including KakaoTalk and Kakao's new conversational AI service Kanana. Additionally, the company will implement ChatGPT Enterprise to accelerate its transformation into an AI-native company.
Regarding joint product development, the two firms aim to leverage Kakao's deep understanding of Korean users and OpenAI's advanced AI technology to accelerate the mass adoption of customized AI services.
“(Korea) is a great market for us and I think AI documenting in general has been quite incredible. There's so much in Korea that makes a good fit. If you think about all the engines here from energy to semiconductors to internet companies, it's really a strong place for AI adoption. It's growing super fast and we love to do a partnership like this. It’s quite impressive,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said.
"I think (Kakao and OpenAI) had a shared vision for what AI can do. We are particularly interested in AI and messaging. I think there is a really rich thing to explore there and improve the experience a lot for users, and (we're) also excited that you wanted to do this as just the start and really explore many more things together,” he added.
Expressing optimism for the partnership, Chung said, "We have high expectations for this strategic collaboration with OpenAI, a global AI leader. This alliance will be a turning point for advancing our orchestration strategy and bringing the future closer."
Regarding OpenAI's potential plans to establish a Korean branch, Altman said, "We don't have anything specific to announce (for) our timelines, but this is an incredibly important market and you should expect to see us more.”

Before the press event, Altman hosted OpenAI's first-ever private workshop in Korea, titled "Builder Lab." He also met with SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won for a 40-minute discussion on AI semiconductors, AI ecosystem expansion and broader collaboration between OpenAI and the group.
Discussions reportedly covered chipmaking unit SK hynix’s high-bandwidth memory supply and telecommunications unit SK Telecom’s AI data center initiatives.
Later in the day, Altman also met with Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son at the Korean tech giant's Seocho-gu office building in Seoul.
On the way to the high-profile meeting, Son met with a group of local reporters in Seoul and hinted, "We are going to talk about the update on Stargate and potential collaboration with Samsung."
Stargate is a $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI and SoftBank to enhance AI infrastructure. Additionally, there are rumors of a possible hardware partnership being discussed for an AI-specific device, which Altman hinted at last month.
Regarding the participation of Korean companies in the Stargate project, Altman said during the Kakao event, “I don't want to comment here for that, but we’d like to keep partnerships sort of confidential and (we're) talking to many companies all the time.”
On Tuesday, the OpenAI chief also attended a business luncheon with major conglomerate owner families, including SK, GS, Hyosung and Kolon, to discuss business cooperation plans, including AI, according to industry sources.
Key attendees reportedly included HS Hyosung Vice Chair Cho Hyun-sang, SK Networks President Choi Sung-hwan, GS E&C CEO Huh Yoon-hong and Kolon Vice Chair Lee Kyu-ho.
Following his time in Korea, Altman is set to visit New Delhi on Thursday, followed by Berlin on Friday. He is also scheduled to attend the AI Safety Summit in France on Feb. 10 and the World Government Summit in the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 12.