Samsung Electronics-SK Hynix... Altman's Packed 19 Hours

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who arrived in South Korea late afternoon on the 25th, began a hectic 12-hour schedule on the 26th starting with a visit to Samsung Electronics' semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek. On the same day, Altman visited the SK Hynix plant in Icheon in the afternoon and met SK Chairman Chey Tae-won in the evening.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

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According to business and IT industry sources on the 26th, Altman visited the Pyeongtaek plant around 9 a.m. and immediately held a meeting with Kyung Kye-hyun, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics as well as head of the Device Solutions (DS) division. Also present at the meeting were Kyung, Choi Si-young, head of the Foundry Business Division, Lee Jung-bae, head of the Memory Business Division, and Park Yong-in, head of the System LSI Business Division.

Altman’s schedule changed frequently. His visit to Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek plant was suddenly moved forward from 2 p.m. to 9 a.m. After Pyeongtaek, he visited the SK Hynix plant in Icheon to meet with CEO Kwak No-jung.

Originally, Altman planned to stay in South Korea for about six hours on this day, but he arrived the previous afternoon and decided to stay for 19 hours to complete various schedules. Initially, he planned to meet only semiconductor company executives during this visit and stay longer on his next visit, but he changed his plan to also inspect on-site locations such as the Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant. Altman also proposed meeting Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, but due to Lee’s circumstances ahead of the first trial verdict, the meeting time could not be arranged.

This visit marks Altman’s first trip to South Korea in seven months since June last year. Industry attention to this visit is much higher than before. As Altman has recently been forming an “AI semiconductor alliance” with major global corporations, it could be decided whether Korean companies like Samsung Electronics and SK will join.

Altman reportedly discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with Samsung and SK on memory semiconductors essential in the AI era, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and AI semiconductor design technology.

Currently, Altman is pushing for the development of proprietary AI semiconductors to reduce dependence on Nvidia, the U.S. semiconductor company dominating the AI semiconductor market. OpenAI plans to release a major upgrade to its large language model (LLM), GPT-4, this year, which will require a large volume of expensive AI semiconductors to operate stably.

On the previous day, U.S. foreign media reported that Altman discussed plans and sites with U.S. Congress members to build a manufacturing plant for mass production of these semiconductors, drawing significant attention. The media reported that he is considering various options, including building a new semiconductor manufacturing plant and cooperating with existing semiconductor foundry companies.

After his visit to South Korea, Altman is also reportedly considering a visit to Taiwan, home to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry company. It is said that Altman has been quietly negotiating with TSMC regarding AI semiconductor production. Additionally, he is discussing funding with AI companies such as G42 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), SoftBank Group of Japan which owns the British semiconductor design company ARM, and others. He is also in talks about funding with Tahnoun bin Zayed, National Security Advisor of the UAE and brother of UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who owns G42.

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