(Oct 31): OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman met with Samsung Group’s top executives in South Korea on Saturday to deepen cooperation on memory chips and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure as global shortages intensify.

Samsung hosted Altman for talks with about 50 executives from its electronics, financial and biotechnology affiliates in Yongin, south of Seoul, the South Korean company said in a statement. The discussions focused on how AI can reshape industries, corporate decision-making and business opportunities over the next decade.

The meeting comes as shortages in a broad array of memory products strain the global electronics industry and send chip prices soaring. Demand from data-centre operators is intensifying competition for supplies, with the five biggest players in the AI infrastructure race planning to spend more than US$3 trillion (RM12.17 trillion) in the coming years. Memory accounts for roughly a third of data-centre spending. 

Altman is the latest American tech leader to visit South Korea, the leader in advanced memory chips and a country where AI adoption is accelerating among businesses and consumers. Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang and Advanced Micro Devices Inc's Lisa Su both visited twice since last year to strengthen supply-chain ties. Technology executives have warned that chip production is struggling to keep pace with demand.

Saturday’s meeting builds on a partnership announced earlier to supply memory chips for OpenAI’s Stargate infrastructure project and cooperate on AI data centres, including floating offshore facilities. Samsung is also accelerating AI adoption across its businesses, from research and manufacturing to marketing and corporate operations.

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