OpenAI's Altman Clinches Deal With Kakao, Second Major Asian Alliance This Week

OpenAI said on Tuesday it will develop artificial intelligence products for South Korea with chat app operator Kakao, unveiling a second major alliance with a high-profile Asian partner this week.In a whirlwind tour through Asia, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman also announced a partnership with Japan's SoftBank Group on Monday and is, according to sources, scheduled to visit India on Wednesday where he is seeking to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Like SoftBank, Kakao said it would be using technology developed by the ChatGPT creator for its products. Kakao operates South Korea's dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, which has a whopping 97% domestic market share and has expanded into areas such as e-commerce, payments and gaming. It has positioned AI as a new engine of growth but analysts say it has lagged behind local rival Naver in the AI race.We are particularly interested in AI and messaging, Altman told a joint press conference with Kakao CEO Chung Shina in Seoul. Altman also said many Korean companies will be important contributors to the Stargate data centre project, a venture between OpenAI and Oracle to build AI capacity in the United States. He declined to elaborate, saying he wants to keep partnership conversations confidential.The OpenAI CEO met SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won earlier on Tuesday. He also plans to meet Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son in Seoul later in the day, Maeil Business Newspaper reported.More on OpenAI’s Asian partnerships on ReutersPlease support our podcast sponsor, Moving On IT | Tomorrow’s Technology, Today. Get full access to Neural News Network at remunerationlabs.substack.com/subscribe