en.Wedoany.com Reported - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is visiting South Korea again after eight months, where he will meet with executives from major Korean companies including Kakao, Samsung Electronics, and Naver, a move seen as deepening collaborative ties.
According to industry sources on the 11th, Altman will arrive in Korea on the afternoon of the 14th and depart after completing his schedule on the 15th, a one-night, two-day trip. His first meeting is set for 9 a.m. on the 15th at Kakao Pangyo Agit in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, with Kakao CEO Jung Shin-ah. The two are expected to discuss expanding cooperation on ChatGPT based on Kakao and KakaoTalk. Since establishing a strategic partnership with OpenAI in February last year, Kakao has launched "ChatGPT for Kakao" within KakaoTalk, featuring OpenAI's chatbot. The meeting is reportedly set to focus on specific plans to enhance the linkage between KakaoTalk's conversational context and ChatGPT.
Altman will then head to Samsung Digital City in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, at 10 a.m. for a "DX Insight Dialogue" with employees of Samsung Electronics' DX division. This special lecture was arranged after Samsung Electronics recently officially introduced external generative AI services such as ChatGPT Enterprise, Gemini, and Claude within the company. Altman will deliver a speech on changes brought by AI technology development and directions for AI-based business innovation, and discuss with employees how to leverage AI to improve work efficiency and transform work methods. He is also expected to meet with key Samsung Electronics management, including Jeon Young-hyun and Roh Tae-moon. During his visit to Korea last October, Altman held high-level meetings with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, after which the two companies signed a letter of intent on jointly building global AI core infrastructure. As OpenAI, as part of the global data center assurance project "Stargate," is pushing to secure two data centers in Korea, attention is focused on whether the previous strategic partnership can be further concretized.
Altman is also rumored to visit Naver 1784 in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on the same day to meet with Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon. Given that Naver has built its own cloud and data center infrastructure, the possibility of discussing cooperation plans has been raised. In addition to these companies, he is expected to meet with ChatGPT Enterprise client companies or AI infrastructure-related firms.
This marks Altman's third visit to Korea in nearly two years, indicating that Korea is a strategic priority for OpenAI. Last month, OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon visited Korea and officially launched the "Korea Cyber Action Plan," allowing the Korean government, public institutions, and enterprises to collaborate within the access scope of "GPT-5.5 Cyber." This plan was finalized before competitor Anthropic included Korea in its cybersecurity-focused "Claude Mitos" access through "Project Glasswing." These moves by OpenAI are interconnected with competitor Anthropic's push into the Korean market. Last month, Anthropic appointed former Snowflake Korea representative Choi Ki-young as its first Korea representative and officially announced plans to open a Seoul office. Anthropic's core tasks include expanding cooperation with Korean companies and startups, collaborating with the government and research institutions, and supporting the developer ecosystem. Recently, Anthropic included Korea as a participating country in its cybersecurity cooperation project "Project Glasswing," providing access to Claude Mitos for major institutions and companies such as the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and SK Telecom.
Industry analysts believe that with OpenAI and Anthropic both strengthening their organizational structures in Korea and pushing to expand cooperation with the government and businesses, competition for the Korean AI market has fully intensified. In particular, competition for dominance in enterprise AI, data centers, and AI infrastructure is expected to become more fierce. An OpenAI official stated that CEO Altman's visit to Korea will proceed as planned, completing meetings with domestic companies.
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