OpenAI Partners with Kakao After SoftBank, Shows Interest in Samsung

This week, OpenAI announced a second significant partnership with a prominent Asian partner, announcing that it will work with chat app operator Kakao to build artificial intelligence solutions for South Korea. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman announced a cooperation with Japan's SoftBank Group during a quick tour of Asia. Sources say Altman is set to travel to India on Wednesday in an attempt to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With a staggering 97% domestic market share, KakaoTalk is the most popular chat program in South Korea. It has also branched out into e-commerce, payments, and games. Though analysts claim it has fallen behind local rival Naver in the AI race, it has positioned AI as a new growth engine.

Altman stated that a large number of Korean businesses will play a significant role in the ecosystem of the US Stargate data center project.Chey Tae-won, the chairman of the SK Group, met with him earlier Tuesday. Additionally, later in the day, he will travel to Seoul to meet with SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son and Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee. According to the Sources.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both manufacture high bandwidth memory chips for AI processors.OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle were developing a data center venture dubbed Stargate for AI projects, according to US President Donald Trump's announcement last month that the private sector will contribute up to US$500 billion to fund AI infrastructure.