OpenAI Korea head says AI memory boom to continue, vows partnership with South Korean suppliers
OpenAI Korea head Kim Kyung-hoon said AI chip demand will persist and OpenAI will keep prioritizing South Korean semiconductor partners, as GPT-6 Astra rollout fuels memory-market optimism.
"Highly advanced semiconductors help faster and more intricate AI processing," Kim said, reaffirming optimism about an AI-led memory boom after OpenAI unveiled its latest model, GPT-6 Astra, earlier this month. On Monday, shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix rose more than 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively, following the rollout.
Asked about the South Korean government's push to invest in homegrown frontier AI models, Kim, a former Google executive, said he sees the move in a positive light. He said it broadens user options and helps nurture South Korea's entire AI ecosystem, from the semiconductor supply chain to AI-related talent.
OpenAI also highlighted ChatGPT's achievements in South Korea. Users of its enterprise-grade ChatGPT models increased 28 times year-on-year as of end-August, while users of ChatGPT Work and its coding agent Codex jumped 14 times over the six months since March. Weekly active users of general-purpose ChatGPT models rose 35 percent year-on-year as of Aug. 25.
The company said it expects the trend to accelerate with the deployment of GPT-6 Astra. It is seeking to support inference residency and expand its cybersecurity project "Daybreak Partner" with local firms. OpenAI is also preparing to scale up its local team dedicated to its advertisement business, after rolling out an ad-supported AI service for lower-tier ChatGPT models in South Korea in mid-June.