OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, is scheduled to visit South Korea on Friday for meetings with executives from chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, according to sources familiar with the situation. Altman’s discussions are anticipated to revolve around potential collaborations in chip manufacturing, although the sources declined to disclose their identities. OpenAI, Samsung, and SK did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Altman’s visit comes as he seeks to secure billions of dollars for a chip venture aimed at establishing a network of factories for semiconductor production, with chipmakers being considered as potential partners, as reported by Bloomberg News last week.
Both SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics specialize in producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips utilized in artificial intelligence chipsets, while Samsung Electronics also engages in contract manufacturing, competing with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. SK Hynix recently expressed its ambition to become a comprehensive provider of AI memory following a surprise profit in the December quarter, driven by robust demand for memory chips employed in AI applications.
