Sam Altman makes surprise South Korea visit as OpenAI builds on chip partnerships

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made an unannounced visit to South Korea over the weekend, where he met with Samsung executives and reportedly met with executives from SK Group, according to CNBC outlets. During a roundtable at the Samsung Human Resources Development Institute in Yongin on Oct. 31, Altman told approximately 50 presidents of Samsung affiliates that corporate success will increasingly depend on the speed at which companies use AI to innovate and develop products.

Altman was accompanied by a senior OpenAI delegation including Richard Ho, Arvind KC, and Kiran Mani. During the session, Altman presented Samsung executives with a Codex Micro Keyboard, a device for OpenAI’s coding agent, while suggesting that traditional full-sized keyboards may become unnecessary as voice commands allow people to instruct computers.

In a separate announcement, President Lee Jae Myung stated in a budget speech to parliament that South Korea plans to double its spending on artificial intelligence and semiconductors in 2027 to a record 21.3 trillion won (US$16 billion). The New Straits Times reports this funding will target three mega-projects involving semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centres.

Brief written by urgent.news from CNBC World, CNBC Technology, CNBC, New Straits Times, BusinessKorea — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.