OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman paid an unannounced visit to South Korea at the weekend, meeting senior Samsung executives and reportedly SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, CNBC reports.
Samsung said Altman met about 50 executives from across its affiliates, including electronics, finance and biotech, in Yongin, south of Seoul, to discuss AI developments and business opportunities. South Korean media reported he also had lunch with Chey and executives from SK Hynix and SK Telecom, possibly covering memory chip supply and data centres. SK Hynix told CNBC it could not confirm the meeting.
The trip builds on partnerships announced during Altman's October 2025 visit, when Samsung and SK agreed to expand production of advanced memory chips for OpenAI's Stargate infrastructure project and to explore building AI data centres in South Korea. Altman reportedly left the country on Saturday.
Source: CNBC