Samsung, SK Partner With OpenAI on AI Infrastructure

Seoul, South Korea — Samsung Electronics and SK announced strategic partnerships with OpenAI on Wednesday as part of the artificial intelligence company's Stargate initiative, aiming to expand AI infrastructure development in South Korea and globally.

The partnerships were announced after a meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul attended by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, and OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix plan to scale up production of advanced memory chips, targeting 900,000 DRAM wafer starts per month as part of an accelerated capacity expansion, according to the companies.

The production increase is intended to support OpenAI's advanced AI models.

OpenAI signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT to evaluate potential opportunities for constructing AI data centers outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area.

OpenAI also signed a separate partnership with SK Telecom to explore the possibility of constructing an AI data center in South Korea.

Additional agreements were signed with Samsung C&T, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Samsung SDS to assess the potential for further data center capacity in the country, according to the companies.

Samsung Electronics will act as a strategic memory partner to supply advanced semiconductor solutions for OpenAI's global Stargate initiative, the companies said.

Samsung stated that its capabilities span memory, logic, and foundry technologies, including advanced chip packaging and integration between memory and system semiconductors.

Samsung SDS will collaborate with OpenAI on the design, development, and operation of Stargate AI data centers.

Samsung SDS has signed a reseller partnership with OpenAI for its services in South Korea and plans to support local companies in adopting OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise offerings.

Samsung and SK will also deploy ChatGPT Enterprise and API capabilities within their operations, according to the companies.

"Korea has all the ingredients to be a global leader in AI — including advanced technology talent, world-class infrastructure, strong government support, and a growing AI ecosystem," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee said the industry should collaborate in response to advances in artificial intelligence.

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won described the partnership as significant for SK and said the companies would jointly work to advance global AI infrastructure.

The partnerships are intended to support South Korea's goal of becoming a leading global hub for AI, according to the companies.