OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Jason Kwon speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Sept. 10, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — OpenAI, the U.S. tech company behind ChatGPT, said Wednesday it is seeking to expand partnerships with South Korean technology firms, including SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
“I think there are many ways to partner with OpenAI when it comes to building infrastructure at the physical data center construction level,” Jason Kwon, chief strategy officer (CSO) at OpenAI, said during a press conference in Seoul.
“When it comes to the hardware chip side, I think we have a lot of good partnership options with companies like SK and Samsung.”
SK hynix and Samsung Electronics are global leaders in the memory market, with SK hynix in particular dominating the high bandwidth memory (HBM) sector, a critical component for AI computing and data centers.
Kwon’s remark came as OpenAI officially opened its Korean office in Seoul, part of the company’s global expansion drive. OpenAI Korea is the firm’s 12th office worldwide and its third in Asia.
He said South Korea is an ideal location for AI innovation, citing its large pool of researchers, developers and creators.
“Korea has long been recognized as a global technology powerhouse,” he said. “The country’s unique combination of cutting edge infrastructure, innovative companies and early adopters makes it an ideal hub for AI innovation.”
Kwon highlighted that South Korea has become one of OpenAI’s fastest-growing markets, ranking first in Asia in ChatGPT subscriptions.
He also said OpenAI plans to strengthen collaboration with Korean academia, noting it will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Seoul National University later this week.
(Yonhap)
