OpenAI, Kakao to jointly develop AI products for South Korea

ChatGPT creator OpenAI and South Korea's dominant chat app operator Kakao said on Tuesday they plan to form a strategic partnership to develop AI products for the Korean market.

Kakao also said it will use OpenAI technology for its products. The announcement was made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Kakao CEO Chung Shina during a press conference in Seoul.

Altman also said many Korean companies will be important contributors to the ecosystem of the U.S. Stargate data centre project but added that he wants to keep partnership conversations confidential.

Altman met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won earlier on Tuesday and also plans to meet with executives from Samsung during his visit. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics produce high bandwidth memory chips used in AI processors.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund AI infrastructure, noting OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle were planning a joint venture called Stargate.

Asked whether OpenAI is looking at investing in and joining South Korea's AI computing centre project, Altman said the U.S. company is "actively considering" the move.

Last month, South Korea's government announced a plan to build a national AI computing centre that would draw on investment from the public and private sectors worth up to 2 trillion won.

On Monday in Tokyo Altman and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son agreed to set up a joint venture in Japan to offer AI services to corporate customers.