Sam Altman Drops In on South Korea for Surprise Chip Talks With Samsung and SK

Sam Altman just showed up in South Korea without telling anyone first. The OpenAI CEO spent the weekend meeting with Samsung executives and, according to South Korean media reports, sitting down for lunch with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. He left the country on Saturday, local outlets reported.

Samsung said Altman gathered with roughly 50 executives from its affiliates across electronics, finance and biotech in Yongin, just south of Seoul. The conversation covered AI's direction, possible business opportunities and how the technology is reshaping corporate decision-making and operations, the company said.

The reported lunch with Chey Tae-won drew senior executives from SK Hynix and SK Telecom, per local media. Talks may have touched on AI chip cooperation and data centers, including existing plans for high-bandwidth memory supplies. Nobody offered specifics, and SK Hynix told CNBC it couldn't confirm the meeting happened at all.

This isn't Altman's first swing through Seoul. He visited in October 2025, meeting President Lee Jae Myung, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Chey Tae-won, and rolled out partnerships with Samsung and SK Group under OpenAI's Stargate initiative. That effort is aimed at scaling AI infrastructure worldwide, with South Korea supplying advanced memory chips and exploring AI data center development.

Samsung also confirmed Altman met Jay Y. Lee at OpenAI's San Francisco headquarters back in July. OpenAI has pointed to South Korea's standing among global leaders in AI readiness, plus hefty public-private funding aimed at sharpening competitiveness, as the reason it keeps expanding its footprint there.

Now the question is whether this quiet weekend stop turns into more signed paper. The table is already set: memory chips, data centers and a country OpenAI clearly wants closer.