Openai Kakao Jointly Develop Ai Products South Korea 2025 02 04
Reuters1 day
OpenAI Expands in Asia With Kakao Deal
story
Above: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, right, and Shina Chung, CEO of Kakao Corp., during Kakao Media Day in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 4, 2025. Image copyright: SeongJoon Cho/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Facts
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced Tuesday a strategic partnership with South Korean tech giant Kakao to develop artificial intelligence (AI) products, marking its second major Asian alliance following a deal with Japan's SoftBank that includes a $3B annual commitment.
The collaboration will focus on developing a Korean-language assistant called Kanana, integrating OpenAI technology into the KakaoTalk messaging app — which commands 97% of South Korea's market share — and implementing ChatGPT Enterprise for Kakao's internal use.
Altman conducted meetings with leaders of major Korean tech companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and SK Group to discuss potential contributions to the recently announced $500B Stargate data center project in the US.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
OpenAI is successfully expanding its investments and technological integration across the world. In Japan, its $500M investment from SoftBank with an additional $3B annual deal for AI services will help grow both OpenAI and its Japanese customers. Its partnership with South Korea's Kakao aims to enhance AI products, showing OpenAI's push toward global product integration. While other companies have created nice products, OpenAI is revolutionizing AI for everyone.
Establishment-critical narrative
While no one can deny OpenAI's success, its hyper-focus on billion-dollar investments is its main shortfall. China's DeepSeek, meanwhile, is achieving the same technological success while committing to the nonprofit philosophy that OpenAI was founded on but has since discarded. While American companies focus on corporate funding and export controls, Chinese firms have remained at the front of the AI race without playing dirty tricks or begging for corporate subsidies.
