President Lee Jae Myung (right) on Oct. 1 speaks to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Office of the President in Seoul. (Office of the President) 

By Xu Aiying

The government and domestic companies have joined hands with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, to launch a partnership to make Korea one of the world's top three countries in artificial intelligence (AI).

President Lee Jae Myung and executives of the domestic conglomerates Samsung and SK on Oct. 1 held talks with visiting OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

In the meeting, OpenAI hailed the direction of government policy for balanced national development and announced plans to build with its Korean partner companies large-scale data centers in the country's southwestern (Jeollanam-do Province) and southeastern (Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province) regions.

To support this initiative, the Ministry of Science and ICT signed with OpenAI a memorandum of understanding on AI cooperation to accelerate Korea's AI transition and infrastructure innovation.

OpenAI also signed letters of intent with Samsung and SK on memory semiconductor partnerships related to Stargate, the world's largest project for AI infrastructure.

Through this collaboration with OpenAI, the policy of AI transformation in the industrial and public sectors is expected to greatly contribute to stimulating economic growth in the provinces through the building of AI highways in the Jeollanam-do and Pohang regions.

By joining the Stargate project as partners, domestic companies are also expected to secure sources of semiconductor demand at an early stage.

xuaiy@korea.kr