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Altman bets on Samsung, SK as AI race
intensifies
By Jie Ye-eun,
The Korea Herald - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman returned to South Korea over the
weekend facing two mounting challenges: securing enough memory chips and
raising the billions needed to build the infrastructure behind them.
His surprise
visit highlighted the growing importance of Samsung and SK to the ChatGPT
maker, as tight memory supplies strengthen chipmakers' bargaining power while
investors demand clearer returns on massive AI spending.
Altman arrived
Friday night and met about 50 Samsung executives in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province,
on Saturday before lunch with SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won and executives from
SK hynix and SK Telecom.
At Samsung,
discussions focused on using AI to improve business competitiveness.
"Simply
using AI will no longer be enough to secure a sustainable competitive
advantage," Altman said, adding that he hoped to deepen cooperation with
Samsung.
Memory
suppliers gain leverage
The stakes are
rising as demand for high-bandwidth memory, a critical component of AI
accelerators, continues to outstrip supply.
TrendForce
forecasts HBM's blended average selling price will surge 121 percent in 2027
from 2026, reflecting tight supplies and a greater share of expensive HBM4
chips rather than uniform price increases.
Samsung said
last week its 2027 HBM supply was sold out. SK hynix said production through
2029 was effectively accounted for, combining firm contracts with volumes under
customer negotiations.
"Customers
are requesting more than twice the volume we can supply," Kim Ki-tae, SK
hynix's head of HBM sales and marketing, said during an earnings call.
For OpenAI,
securing sufficient memory at manageable costs is becoming increasingly
important as it expands computing infrastructure and develops custom AI
accelerators with Broadcom.
In October
2025, OpenAI signed preliminary Stargate agreements with Samsung and SK
outlining projected demand equivalent to 900,000 DRAM wafer starts per month.
The figure was a production target, not a binding order.
"When
memory chips are in short supply, buyers have less flexibility," an
industry source said. "Maintaining long-term relationships with Samsung
and SK hynix is increasingly important."
Financing puts
partnerships to test
Higher memory
costs could inflate OpenAI's AI infrastructure budgets just as investors become
more selective about funding the industry's expansion.
According to
industry sources, OpenAI has secured about $11 billion in commitments against
an initial $30 billion fundraising target. Its proposed valuation of $1.25
trillion reportedly fell short of the $1.4 trillion sought, while the
fundraising target may be reduced to $20 billion. The figures have not been
independently confirmed.
The financing
pressure adds uncertainty to OpenAI's planned AI data center projects in Korea.
Samsung affiliates and SK Telecom agreed last year to explore joint
developments, but investment budgets and construction schedules remain
unsettled.
"Building
a data center involves more considerations than we initially expected,"
OpenAI Korea chief Kim Kyoung-hoon said in September, citing evolving technical
requirements.
For Samsung,
deeper cooperation could create opportunities in enterprise AI and data center
services alongside chip sales. SK could combine SK hynix's memory business with
SK Telecom's infrastructure capabilities.
No new
agreements were announced after Altman's visit, and neither side confirmed
discussions of chip pricing or investment commitments.
With memory
supplies tightening and investors demanding clearer returns, the real test will
be whether OpenAI can turn its Korean partnerships into firm supply contracts
and funded projects.
