OpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrives in Korea for Samsung, SK meetings

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman participates in the ″Technology in a turbulent world″ panel discussion during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18. [AP/YONHAP]

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman punched in for his 19-hour visit to Korea, possibly touring factories of top-tier chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Local media outlets reported that Altman landed in Korea on Thursday afternoon and began his round of meetings with the executives alongside factory site inspections on Friday.

This is Altman’s second visit to Korea in seven months since his first in June 2023. Back then he met with President Yoon Suk Yeol and attended a startup forum for “possible collaboration” with Korean companies.

However, the focus sharpens toward his second visit as his recent trips indicate that the CEO is keen on scaling down reliance on Nvidia, the primary supplier of the graphics processing unit (GPU) used in OpenAI's ChatGPT series.

Altman needs to secure a stable advanced chip supply to back up ChatGPT-4, which is scheduled to carry out major upgrades within the year.

A Washington Post report on Wednesday said that Altman recently had discussions with U.S. lawmakers for the possible establishment of semiconductor fabs in the United States.

Altman and other tech leaders insist that AI is the shortcut that could fundamentally change the world economy, and his company and the United States must secure a cheap supply of high-performance chips to maintain the country’s competitiveness in the economy and military.

This may be the reason why Altman has extended his stay in Korea a while longer than he intended. The CEO initially planned to stay in Korea for six hours, meeting briefly with Korean executives before heading out again.

Samsung Electronics and Sk hynix produce the high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips essential to AI processors. Combined, the two companies’ market share for HBM is over 90 percent globally.

Local media reports released on Friday said that Altman began his first schedule in Korea by visiting Samsung Electronic's chip factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi. He also met with Samsung Electronics CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, President Choi Si-young, head of the company’s foundry business, President Lee Jung-bae overseeing the memory chip business and President Park Yong-in of the System LSI Business.

His next stop was at the SK hynix chip factory in Icheon, Gyeonggi, where he met with SK Group Chairman Chey tae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung.

Neither a Samsung Electronics nor Sk hynix spokesperson was able to confirm the reports.

After his exit from Korea, Altman may be headed to Taiwan to meet with another global chip giant TSMC.

A Financial Times report said on Jan. 20 that the CEO is engaged in discussions with key Middle Eastern investors and TSMC to launch a chip venture.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]