Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, discussed future strategies with some 50 presidents of Samsung affiliates under the theme "The Next 10 Years Changed by AI and Corporate Choices" at the Samsung Human Resources Development Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, today (the 31st).

Altman, who made a surprise visit to South Korea last night on a two-day itinerary, 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 Sales for Asia-Pacific and Japan; and Arvind KC, Chief People Officer.

Attendees from Samsung included Jeon Young-hyun, Vice Chairman and Head of Samsung Electronics' DS (Device Solutions) Division; Roh Tae-moon, President and Head of Samsung Electronics' DX (Device eXperience) Division; along with Song Yong-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics DS Division AI Center; Choi Joo-sun, President of Samsung SDI; and Chang Duk-hyun, President of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, as well as a large group of presidents from Samsung's electronics, finance, and bio affiliates.


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

During today's meeting, Altman said, "Simply using AI will no longer secure a sustainable competitive advantage in the future," 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 Codex, OpenAI's coding agent.

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

At the time, Samsung SDS agreed to cooperate in building AI data centers and enterprise AI services, while Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries decided to pursue the joint development of offshore floating 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, U.S., in July of this year.