OpenAI may open data center in Korea

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OpenAI may open data center in Korea

Published: 10 Sep. 2025, 16:53

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon speaks at a press event held in eastern Seoul on Sept. 10. [OPENAI]

OpenAI said it may establish a data center in Korea as the ChatGPT maker formally launched its Korean entity on Wednesday.

At a press event in eastern Seoul, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Jason Kwon pointed to opportunities for local collaboration, including potential ties with Samsung and SK, as part of OpenAI Korea’s launch.

“I think there are many ways we can partner when it comes to building compute,” Kwon said. “At the physical level, that includes data center construction. On the hardware chip side, we have a lot of good partnerships in motion with companies like SK and Samsung.”

The potential establishment of an OpenAI data center in Korea has been a recurring topic of interest since the company confirmed in May that it would open a local office. OpenAI is currently engaged in Project Stargate, a $520 billion initiative with SoftBank and Oracle to build large-scale AI data centers in the United States.

Separately, the company is advancing the OpenAI for Countries program, an international version of Stargate designed to help countries develop local data centers and develop AI services. Projects are already underway in the United Arab Emirates and Norway.

The CSO stressed Korea’s importance as a market, noting that domestic adoption of ChatGPT has surged, with monthly active users reaching a record 20.31 million in August, according to WiseApp Retail.

Kwon alluded to rejecting speculation that OpenAI might pursue acquisitions of local AI startups or stakes in Korean firms, emphasizing instead a focus on partnerships. Rumors had circulated that the U.S. company was exploring an equity deal with Kakao, which has been working with OpenAI on service integration. According to an exclusive report from the Seoul Economic Daily, Kakao plans to update its KakaoTalk messenger with ChatGPT features to increase user engagement.

“We haven’t had any discussions about acquisitions and I don’t think that’s something necessary for us and the Korean ecosystem to succeed,” he said.

OpenAI has already established partnerships across a wide range of industries, including finance, electronics, telecom, gaming and hospitality. Partners include GS Engineering & Construction, Toss, LG Electronics, LG U+, Krafton, Kakao, KT, Yanolja, Tving, Cafe24 and SK Telecom.

The collaborations primarily involve OpenAI providing its application programming interface, supported by the company’s engineering and solutions teams, to help partners build tailored AI products.

At the launch event, OpenAI also announced a memorandum of understanding with Seoul National University to cooperate on AI research.

OpenAI Korea becomes the company’s third hub in Asia, following Singapore and Tokyo, and its 12th office worldwide. The company did not disclose details on the scale of the Korean unit, its headcount or the appointment of a local managing director.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]