OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman arrived in South Korea without prior announcement, spending the weekend in meetings with senior Samsung leaders. Samsung said the gathering involved roughly fifty executives from its various business units, including electronics, finance and biotechnology, and was held in Yongin, a city south of Seoul.
The agenda, according to Samsung, covered recent AI advances, potential commercial opportunities and the way the technology could shape corporate decision-making and operations. Altman also sat down for lunch with SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, joined by senior staff from SK Hynix and SK Telecom, as reported by local media.
Media outlets suggested the two parties may have explored joint work on AI-optimized chips and the construction of data centers, building on earlier plans for high-bandwidth memory supply and AI-focused infrastructure. Neither Samsung nor OpenAI released specifics about the content of the discussions, leaving the exact scope of any future collaboration unclear.
Altman’s current trip follows a visit in October 2025, when he met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Samsung Electronics executive chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, and announced a set of partnerships under OpenAI’s Stargate program. Those agreements were presented as a step toward deeper cooperation with the nation’s leading chipmakers.
The Stargate initiative is described as OpenAI’s effort to broaden AI infrastructure worldwide, with South Korea identified as a key partner for advanced memory chip supply and the development of AI data centers. Under the announced framework, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix intend to increase output of cutting-edge memory devices, while OpenAI will assess opportunities to locate data-center capacity in the country.
OpenAI cited the country’s high ranking in global AI readiness assessments and the scale of public-private funding aimed at boosting competitiveness as reasons for expanding its footprint there. The surprise visit also comes after a July meeting in San Francisco, where Altman and Samsung’s Jay Y. Lee discussed potential collaborations at OpenAI’s headquarters, according to Samsung.