OpenAI chief Altman signs deal with South Korea's Kakao after...
Open AI CEO Sam Altman (R) and Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a (L) pose for photos during a press conference at a hotel in Seoul on February 4, 2024. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
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OpenAI chief Sam Altman signed a deal with tech giant Kakao in South Korea on Tuesday as the US firm seeks new alliances after Chinese rival DeepSeek shook the global AI industry.
Partnership with Kakao
Kakao, which owns an online bank, South Korea's largest taxi-hailing app, and a messaging service, announced a partnership allowing them to use ChatGPT for its new artificial intelligence services, joining a global alliance led by OpenAI amid intensifying competition in the sector.
"We're excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao's millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao's users communicate and connect," said Altman.
"Kakao has a deep understanding of how technology can enrich everyday lives," he added.
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Kakao's CEO Shina Chung said the company was "thrilled" to establish a strategic collaboration with OpenAI.
Response to Competition
Altman's company is part of the Stargate drive announced by US President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States.
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But AI newcomer DeepSeek has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with some calling its high performance and supposed low cost a wake-up call for US developers.
At a closed meeting with South Korean AI developers, Altman admitted OpenAI "hasn't found a strategy yet" to respond to DeepSeek.
Meetings with South Korean Companies
Altman met with SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung in Seoul to discuss collaboration on AI memory chips, including high bandwidth memory (HBM), and AI services.
He is also expected to meet with Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong later Tuesday.
Intellectual Property Concerns
OpenAI warned last week that Chinese companies are actively attempting to replicate its advanced AI models, prompting closer cooperation with US authorities.
OpenAI says rivals are using a process known as distillation in which developers creating smaller models learn from larger ones by copying their behaviour and decision-making patterns -- similar to a student learning from a teacher.
The company is itself facing multiple accusations of intellectual property violations, primarily related to the use of copyrighted materials in training its generative AI models.
Conclusion
With South Korea being a country known for its high loyalty, frequent usage, and tech-savvy user base, OpenAI might use the country as a testing ground before expanding globally.
Stay tuned for more updates on the collaboration between OpenAI and Kakao in the evolving AI industry.
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