• OpenAI has expanded its Stargate AI datacentre programme to South Korea
• Samsung and the SK Group, SK Telecom’s parent company, are its key local partners

Having already made progress in the US and announced deployment plans in Norway and the UK, OpenAI has now expanded its Stargate AI infrastructure initiative to South Korea, where it has forged partnerships with major local tech giants Samsung and SK Telecom’s parent company, SK Group. 

The initial Stargate Project, which involves a planned $500bn investment in AI datacentres in the US, was unveiled in January by partners OpenAI, SoftBank Group, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-based tech investment firm MGX. OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank recently announced five new sites as part of that initiative, claiming that the programme is “on a clear path to securing the full $500 billion, 10-gigawatt commitment we announced in January by the end of 2025, ahead of schedule”.

In May, OpenAI announced Stargate UAE, the first OpenAI for Countries initiative. This was followed in late July by Stargate Norway, and Stargate UK in September. 

Now OpenAI, the developer of generative AI (GenAI) chatbot ChatGPT, has struck partnerships with SK Group and Samsung Electronics to expand Stargate's reach to South Korea.  

“These partnerships will focus on increasing the supply of advanced memory chips essential for next-generation AI and expanding datacentre capacity in Korea, positioning Samsung and SK as key contributors to global AI infrastructure and supporting Korea’s ambition to become a top-three global AI nation,” stated OpenAI. Samsung and SK hynix, an SK Group company, will  “scale up production of advanced memory chips, targeting 900,000 DRAM wafer starts per month at an accelerated capacity rollout, critical for powering OpenAI’s advanced AI models,” noted the AI firm.

OpenAI also signed agreements with the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), SK Telecom and several Samsung operating units (Samsung C&T, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Samsung SDS) to “assess” and “explore” the development of next-generation AI datacentres in South Korea. Samsung and SK Group will also “look to deploy ChatGPT Enterprise and API capabilities into their operations to improve workflows and support new forms of innovation,” noted OpenAI.

SK Telecom already has an important and expanding working relationship with OpenAI – see SK Telecom hooks up with OpenAI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated: “Korea has all the ingredients to be a global leader in AI – incredible tech talent, world-class infrastructure, strong government support, and a thriving AI ecosystem. We’re excited to work with Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and the Ministry of Science and ICT through our global Stargate initiative to support Korea’s AI ambitions.”

Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Y. Lee added: “The world is at a pivotal moment with the advent of AI, and the industry must collaborate to effectively chart the future. Samsung is excited to partner with OpenAI, where we will together catalyze breakthroughs and possibilities.”

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won commented: “Partnering on Stargate represents a landmark moment for SK and the official starting point for comprehensive technological innovation, with SK bringing powerful synergies across the full AI stack – memory semiconductors, datacentres, energy, and networks. As primary partners, SK and OpenAI will jointly drive global AI infrastructure innovation through expanding collaboration spanning infrastructure, model development, applications, and breakthrough research on next-generation AI computing solutions.”

For more on the partnerships, see this SK Group announcement and this Samsung press release. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV