Sam Altman Makes Surprise 2-Day Visit to Korea, Gifts "Codex Keyboard" to Samsung Executives

Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, met with about 50 executives from Samsung affiliates this morning (October 31) at the Samsung Human Resources Development Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to discuss future strategies under the theme "The Next 10 Years Shaped by AI, Corporate Choices."

Altman, who made a surprise visit to South Korea last night for a two-day trip, was accompanied by key OpenAI executives during today's meeting, including Richard Ho, Vice President of Hardware; Kiran Mani, Vice President and Managing Director for Asia-Pacific and Japan; Andreas Hartl, Vice President of Asia-Pacific and Japan Sales; and Arvind KC, Chief People Officer (CPO).

From Samsung, a large contingent of top executives from electronics, finance, and bio affiliates attended, including Jeon Young-hyun, Vice Chairman and Head of the DS (Device Solutions) Division at Samsung Electronics; Roh Tae-moon, President and Head of the DX (Device eXperience) Division at Samsung Electronics; along with Song Yong-ho, head of the AI Center at Samsung Electronics' DS Division; Choi Joo-sun, CEO of Samsung SDI; and Chang Duk-hyun, CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics.


It was reported that a meeting with Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong was not on today's schedule. After completing his meeting with Samsung executives and a luncheon with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Altman departed the country this afternoon.

During today's meeting, Altman said, "Sustained competitive advantage will no longer be secured simply by using AI," adding, "Competitive advantage will depend on how you leverage AI to move faster, build better products, and stay ahead of competitors."


Altman also presented Samsung executives with the "Codex Micro Keyboard," designed to facilitate the convenient use of OpenAI's coding agent, Codex.

Samsung Electronics and OpenAI signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) in October of last year to cooperate on building global AI infrastructure, and have been pursuing the supply of memory semiconductors required for OpenAI's "Stargate" project.

At that time, Samsung SDS agreed to cooperate in building AI data centers and enterprise AI services, while Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries pursued the co-development of floating offshore data centers.

Exchanges between the two companies have continued, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's visit to OpenAI's headquarters in San Francisco in July of this year.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.