Tue Feb 04 23:58:11 IST 2025: ## OpenAI’s Altman Secures Kakao Partnership Amidst DeepSeek’s AI Challenge

**Seoul, South Korea –** OpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrived in South Korea on February 4, 2025, and signed a significant partnership with tech giant Kakao, granting the South Korean company access to ChatGPT technology for its new AI services. This move comes as OpenAI faces increasing pressure from Chinese AI rival DeepSeek, whose rapid rise and purportedly low costs have sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley.

The partnership with Kakao, which boasts a diverse portfolio including an online bank and South Korea’s largest ride-hailing app, is a key step for OpenAI in its global expansion strategy. Altman expressed excitement about bringing advanced AI to Kakao’s vast user base and integrating OpenAI’s technology into transformative services. Kakao’s CEO, Shina Chung, reciprocated the enthusiasm, highlighting the strategic value of the collaboration.

However, the trip also revealed OpenAI’s concerns about DeepSeek. In a closed-door meeting with South Korean AI developers, Altman admitted that OpenAI is still developing a strategy to counter DeepSeek’s disruptive impact. While acknowledging the potential of open-source models, he admitted they had yet to formulate a clear response. Professor Kim Jang-hyun of Sungkyunkwan University suggested South Korea’s tech-savvy population could serve as a testing ground for OpenAI’s response to DeepSeek.

Altman’s visit also included meetings with key South Korean chipmakers, Samsung and SK hynix, focusing on collaboration regarding AI memory chips, particularly high-bandwidth memory (HBM), essential for AI server infrastructure. These meetings reflect OpenAI’s focus on strengthening its hardware partnerships amid the escalating AI competition. The meetings follow OpenAI’s recent warning about Chinese companies potentially reverse-engineering its technology and its own facing accusations of intellectual property violations. The deal with Kakao and meetings with chip manufacturers demonstrate OpenAI’s proactive approach to navigating this increasingly competitive landscape.

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