According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,

Sam Altman, chief executive officer (CEO) of ChatGPT maker OpenAI Inc., has set his eyes on South Korea for business opportunities in sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), memory chips, and virtual assets.

According to multiple sources from the conglomerate circle on Sunday, Altman, who was in town, met with Choi Sung-hwan, CEO of SK networks Co., in Seoul on Friday and discussed measures to strengthen investments in AI startups.

Choi was the only CEO that Altman met during his trip.

During the meeting, Choi and Altman agreed on the need for broader investments in OpenAI and Web 3.

Industry insiders noted that SK Group and Open AI may develop partnership. OpenAI‘s technology, for example, may be used in the home appliances produced by SK magic Co., a rental unit of SK networks.

Altman’s visit to Korea was a significant event for local startups.

In a meeting with the startups, Altman said that he thinks the next three years will probably be the greatest startup opportunity since the rise of the internet. He also added that the years will be the perfect timing for startups that use AI, a destructive and powerful technology.

Altman signaled that he would expand investments in Korean AI software firms.

OpenAI has launched a new application programming interface (APT) that allows companies to develop applications based on ChatGPT, generative AI.

The ChatGPT maker is also mulling an establishment of a local office in Korea, which is expected to play a pivotal role in the partnerships between the high-profile developer and Korean startups.

Altman stressed that Korea is one of the only four that developed their foundation models for AI, including the U.S. and China.

He said that Korea is one of the places in the world that has adopted OpenAI the earliest and uses it the most creatively.

Korea has the greatest access to the Internet, with a combination of hardware and software that cannot be seen in any parts of the world, according to the CEO.

Altman said that OpenAI is ready to collaborate with Korea.

He also added that he expects Korea to play a leading role in developing regulations on AI.

He urged chip makers to play a bigger part in developing the AI landscape.

In a meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, Altman called on Korean semiconductor manufacturers, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., for capacity expansions on chip production, saying that the era of AI requires massive use of data, which will lead to explosive demand for memory chips.

The technology market research firm Gartner found that the world‘s AI chip market is expected to grow to $55.3 billion this year and $86.1 billion in 2026.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are both accelerating efforts to develop memory chips with high function and high capacity.

SK hynix, in particular, has been taking the lead in generative AI chip industry since 2013, when it unveiled the world’s first high-bandwidth standard (HBM) memory.

Altman, who serves as a co-CEO of the global digital currency Worldcoin, also focused on blockchain technology.

At the Worldcoin Seoul Meetup held on Saturday in Seoul, Altman said that the blockchain technology hasn’t reached a level that it overhauls the entire world, but it is still tremendous.

Copyrights Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (Jun 12, 2023)