Sam Altman Meets 50 Samsung Executives in South Korea

Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, traveled to South Korea and met senior executives from Samsung Group. The visit first surfaced in news reports, and Samsung later confirmed the meeting in a statement.

According to reports, the aim was to deepen cooperation on memory chips and AI infrastructure. No new memory chip supply agreement was announced, however. Still, at a time when everyone is knocking on Samsung's door for memory chip supply, Altman's visit stands out.

The Yongin meeting and who attended

According to Samsung's statement, the meeting took place in Yongin, south of Seoul, and was hosted by Samsung. Around 50 executives from the company's affiliates in electronics, finance and biotechnology attended. The meeting reportedly took place on a Saturday.

Samsung said the discussion covered how AI could reshape industries, corporate decision-making and business opportunities over the next decade. In other words, the talks were not limited to hardware supply but also touched on AI's impact across different lines of business.

A postponed trip finally happens

Altman's South Korea trip had reportedly been planned a few months earlier as well, but that visit was canceled for personal reasons. The latest meeting appears to be a rescheduled version of that postponed trip.

Altman also visited South Korea last year, when memory chip prices had only just begun to rise. The picture has changed since then, and memory chip suppliers have moved to the center of the AI supply chain.

The race for memory chip supply

Companies seeking access to memory chips for AI systems are reportedly turning to Samsung. More broadly, the data centers used to train and run large language models need large amounts of fast memory alongside processors, which makes memory makers an important part of the AI supply chain.

No new supply agreement was announced at the meeting. It seems plausible that memory chip supply was discussed, but that is an inference rather than something Samsung has confirmed. According to local reports, Altman also met executives from SK Hynix, another major memory chip maker, during the trip. Samsung did not confirm that claim. SK Hynix, like Samsung, holds a critical position in the AI supply chain.