Key facts
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to visit South Korea for a two-day trip beginning Sunday.
- Altman will meet with leaders from Samsung Electronics, Naver Corp., and Kakao Corp. to discuss AI cooperation.
- During his visit, Altman is scheduled to deliver a lecture at Samsung's Suwon office on AI's impact.
- Discussions with Kakao are expected to focus on enhancing connectivity between ChatGPT and KakaoTalk.
- The visit follows Altman's previous trip in October 2025, which resulted in letters of intent for AI infrastructure cooperation with Samsung and SK.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is scheduled to visit South Korea next week for a series of meetings with the country's leading technology firms, including Samsung Electronics, Naver Corp., and Kakao Corp. The primary focus of these discussions will be on potential cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.
Altman's two-day visit, commencing on Sunday, will include a stop at Samsung's offices in Suwon on Monday. There, he is expected to deliver a lecture on the impact of AI technologies and strategies for workplace innovation driven by AI. This visit occurs as Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning a significant overhaul of its operations by integrating AI across its business processes.
This trip marks Altman's first visit to South Korea in approximately eight months. His previous visit in October 2025 led to the signing of letters of intent between OpenAI, Samsung, and SK Group for cooperation on global AI infrastructure development. While a meeting with Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong was discussed, it is considered unlikely due to Lee's current business trip to Europe. Similarly, a meeting with SK Group is improbable given Altman's tight schedule.
Later on Monday, Altman is slated to meet with Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a at the company's headquarters. Their discussions are anticipated to center on strengthening the integration between OpenAI's ChatGPT and Kakao's messaging service, KakaoTalk, particularly in leveraging conversational context. On the same day, Altman is also expected to visit Naver's headquarters, where potential cooperation could be explored, given Naver's existing cloud and data center infrastructure.