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Sam Altman Makes Unannounced South Korea Visit, Meets Samsung Executives and Reportedly SK Chief
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visited South Korea without prior notice. Samsung says he met around 50 group executives, and Korean media report a lunch with the head of SK Group.
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Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, made an unannounced trip to South Korea over the weekend. According to CNBC, the visit builds on OpenAI's year-long relationships with the country's largest chipmakers.
What we know about the visit
Samsung said Altman met on Saturday in Yongin with around 50 executives from group companies working in electronics, finance and biotechnology. According to the company, the topics were progress in AI, potential business opportunities and the impact of artificial intelligence on corporate decision-making and operations.
Altman left Korea on Saturday, according to local media cited by CNBC. The visit was not announced in advance, hence the word "unannounced" in the coverage.
Lunch with the SK chief
Korean media report that Altman had lunch on Saturday with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. According to those reports, senior executives from SK Hynix and SK Telecom were also present.
Local reports suggest the talks may have covered AI chips and data centers, including existing plans for supplies of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and data center construction. Participants did not provide any details. SK Hynix told CNBC it could not confirm the meeting, so this thread rests on media reports, not on confirmation from the companies.
Background: Stargate and memory
In October 2025, Altman met in Korea with President Lee Jae Myung, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Chey Tae-won. He announced partnerships with Samsung and SK Group under the Stargate initiative, which aims to expand AI infrastructure worldwide.
Korea's role in the project centers on advanced memory and data centers. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix outlined plans to ramp up production of advanced memory chips, while OpenAI and its Korean partners agreed to explore building AI data centers in the country.
OpenAI cited Korea's ranking among the global leaders in AI readiness and significant public-private funding to strengthen the country's competitiveness as reasons for the choice. Samsung also said Altman met with Jay Y. Lee at OpenAI's headquarters in San Francisco in July.
What comes next
The sources give no specific outcomes from the weekend talks and no new agreements. The reports show only that OpenAI keeps close contact with the Korean memory makers it works with under Stargate. Any announcements would need confirmation from the companies themselves.
