OpenAI has taken another significant step in its international expansion by forming a partnership with Kakao, South Korea's tech giant.
This collaboration, announced during a press conference in Seoul, will see OpenAI’s technology integrated into Kakao's services, including the popular messaging app KakaoTalk, which dominates the South Korean market with a staggering 97% share.
The companies will also work on developing a new Korean-language assistant, Kanana, powered by OpenAI's advanced capabilities.
Additionally, Kakao will adopt OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise for internal use across its operations.
This partnership with Kakao is part of a broader strategic shift by OpenAI, with CEO Sam Altman actively engaging with key tech leaders across Asia.
Kakao is a South Korean tech giant that powers many aspects of daily life for Koreans, from messaging and social media to ride-hailing and finance.
Altman highlighted the region’s rapid growth in AI adoption, noting the importance of countries like South Korea for the future of OpenAI.
He remarked,
"Korea is a very impressive market. The adoption of AI in Korea is remarkably advanced. Considering various industries, from energy to semiconductors and internet companies, there is a very strong environment conducive to applying AI. It is a market that is extremely important to us and is growing rapidly.”
Alongside the Kakao deal, Altman has been meeting with major industry players such as SoftBank, Samsung Electronics, and semiconductor producer SK Hynix.
SoftBank’s involvement is particularly significant, as the Japanese conglomerate has pledged $3 billion annually to implement OpenAI’s solutions across its global operations.
This includes the creation of SB OpenAI Japan, a joint venture aimed at delivering OpenAI’s enterprise solutions to Japanese businesses.
Altman also visited Samsung's offices to discuss potential collaborations on AI-powered devices, including custom-designed chips, with SK Hynix and Samsung playing a crucial role in developing high-bandwidth memory chips for AI processors.
A key component of OpenAI's growth strategy is the Stargate project, a venture with Oracle and SoftBank to build advanced AI data centres in the United States.
Altman revealed that many Korean companies will contribute to this initiative, though specific details were not disclosed.
The Stargate project, backed by significant investments, aims to enhance the AI infrastructure needed to support generative AI services like ChatGPT.
The move into South Korea and Japan is also part of OpenAI’s ongoing effort to expand its presence in non-English-speaking markets.
With the emergence of new AI players like DeepSeek in China, OpenAI is keen to ensure its services cater to a more diverse user base, training models on regional languages and user behaviours.
The deal with Kakao gives OpenAI access to millions of consumers in South Korea, marking an important step in enhancing its multilingual capabilities.
In addition to the Kakao partnership, Altman’s visit to South Korea has allowed OpenAI to further cement its relationships with local tech giants, ensuring its products remain at the forefront of AI innovation in the region.
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