Samsung Partners With Open AI To Supply Memory Chips For Stargate, Set Up AI Data Centres In Korea

Open AI will be partnering with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix for supply of advanced memory chips to power the expanding data centre infrastrucutre of the US-based Stargate project. The ChatGPT creator will also be developing "next-generation" AI data centres in South Korea, according to a blog post from OpenAI.

The announcement came after a meeting between South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, Open AI's chief executive officer Sam Altman, and SK's Chairman Chey Tae-won.

Samsung and SK will manufacture and supply advanced memory chips which target 900,000 DRAM wafer starts per month at an accelerated capacity rollout, according to the post.

“Partnering on Stargate represents a landmark moment for SK and the official starting point for comprehensive technological innovation, with SK bringing powerful synergies across the full AI stack—memory semiconductors, data centers, energy, and networks. As primary partners, SK and OpenAI will jointly drive global AI infrastructure innovation through expanding collaboration spanning infrastructure, model development, applications, and breakthrough research on next-generation AI computing solutions,” Chey Tae-won said.

Open AI stated that these chips are "critical" to power its advanced AI models.

The AI giant signed many agreements to set up various kinds of AI data centres in South Korea, such as a memorandum of understanding with the Korean Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology to find opportunities to build AI data centers outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area.

“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,” Altman said.

Open AI signed agreements to partner with SK Telecom to explore building an AI data center in Korea, as well as an agreement with Samsung C&T, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Samsung SDS to look for opportunities to expand data center capacity in the country.

Samsung and SK is also planning to use ChatGPT Enterprise and Open AI's application programming interface capabilities into their operations to "improve workflows and support new forms of innovation."