OpenAI Inks Partnership with Samsung and SK for Stargate Expansion

TMTPOST -- OpenAI is ramping up global expansion of Stargate, its massive new AI infrastructure joint venture with Oracle Corporation and SoftBank Group Corp. that was first announced in January.

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OpenAI and two South Korean giants Samsung and SK inked new strategic partnerships as part of OpenAI’s Stargate initiative, the company’s overarching AI infrastructure platform, aimed at expanding infrastructure critical to AI development, globally and in Korea, according to a statement on Wednesday by OpenAI.

OpenAI said these partnerships will focus on increasing the supply of advanced memory chips essential for next-generation AI and expanding data center capacity in Korea, positioning Samsung and SK as key contributors to global AI infrastructure and supporting Korea’s ambition to become a top-three global AI nation.

Through these partnerships, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world’s top two memory chip makers, plan to scale up production of advanced memory chips, targeting 900,000 Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM) wafer starts per month at an accelerated capacity rollout, critical for powering OpenAI’s advanced AI models, according to OpenAI.

Samsung and SK separately announced their Letter of Intents (IOI) signed with OpenAI in Seoul. Starting with the landmark partnership with OpenAI, Samsung said it plans to fully support Korea’s goals to become one of the world’s top three nations in AI and create new opportunities in the field.

Besides the supply of DRAM waters, another Samsung’s unit Samsung SDS has entered into a potential partnership with OpenAI to jointly develop AI data centers and provide enterprise AI services. Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries will collaborate with OpenAI to advance global AI data centers, with a particular focus on the joint development of floating data centers. These two companies will also explore opportunities to pursue projects in floating power plants and control centers, in addition to floating data center infrastructure.

SK said it will supply High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for the construction of global AI data center under the Stargate project under the IOL. Noting that OpenAI’s monthly HBM demand for up to 900,000 DARM wafers is more than double the current industry capacity, SK hynix will establish a production system capable of promptly meeting OpenAI’s HBM demand for up to 900,000 DRAM wafers per month.

SK Telecom signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with OpenAI to collaborate on building a AI Data Center in the southwest region of Korea as part of Stargate, also known as Stargate Korea. Leveraging its solid experience in data center construction and operation, SK Telecom and OpenAI will jointly develop next-generation computing and data center solutions. They will also explore various AI service use cases for consumers and enterprises.

These announcements followed a meeting between President Lee Jae-myung, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Presidential Office in Seoul.

OpenAI also signed a series of agreements today to explore developing next-generation AI data centers in Korea. These include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) specifically to evaluate opportunities for building AI data centers outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area, supporting balanced regional economic growth and job creation across the country.

“Korea has all the ingredients to be a global leader in AI—incredible tech talent, world-class infrastructure, strong government support, and a thriving AI ecosystem. We’re excited to work with Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and the Ministry of Science and ICT through our global Stargate initiative to support Korea’s AI ambitions,” said Altman.

“This partnership marks the official beginning of comprehensive technological innovation cooperation spanning from chip development to data center construction and operation,” SK Chairman Chey Tae-won added. “We are confident this collaboration will set a new paradigm in the global AI landscape and significantly advance the AI industry’s future.”