OpenAI Expands AI Infrastructure With South Korean Chipmakers

OpenAI has partnered with South Korean tech giants Samsung and SK to advance Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure project. The deals were announced after CEO Sam Altman met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and corporate leaders in Seoul.

The partnerships commit Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world’s largest memory chip producers, to ramp up advanced chip production to meet OpenAI’s growing demands.

OpenAI has struck agreements with two of the world's biggest manufacturers of memory chips, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, to make DRAM wafers for the Stargate AI infrastructure project, and build data centers in South Korea. https://t.co/gf6X0XfzjM

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) October 1, 2025

OpenAI also signed agreements with SK Telecom and Samsung affiliates to explore building an AI data center in Korea, dubbed “Stargate Korea,” and collaborate on data center technologies.

The project includes developing floating data centers to reduce land use, cooling costs, and carbon emissions.

Altman praised Korea’s talent and infrastructure, while Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong emphasized global AI collaboration. Stargate, backed by President Donald Trump, also plans multiple new AI data centers across the U.S.

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