OpenAI to Open Seoul Office as Part of Global AI Expansion
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
SEOUL, May 26 (Bernama-Yonhap) – US artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI has announced plans to establish its first office in South Korea as part of its ongoing global expansion of AI infrastructure, Yonhap news agency reported.
Chief Strategy Officer of OpenAI, Jason Kwon told reporters in Seoul on Monday that the company has officially set up a Korean unit and will soon launch an office in the capital.
'Our next international office is going to be here in Seoul.
bootstrap slideshow
'We are going to open it in the coming months and start hiring a local team to advance our efforts and support local users, customers and partners,' said Kwon.
The Seoul office will be OpenAI's third in Asia, following offices in Tokyo and Singapore.
The move forms part of OpenAI's broader global strategy, which has seen it open 11 international offices in major cities including Paris, Brussels, London, Dublin and Tokyo.
OpenAI, the operator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has already formed partnerships with several major South Korean companies, including Kakao Corp, Krafton Inc and mobile carrier SK Telecom Co, in areas such as AI development and data infrastructure.
Kwon said South Korea was selected as a key partner country due to its high level of engagement with OpenAI's platforms.
'South Korea ranks among the top 10 countries for both ChatGPT users and developers using OpenAI platforms,' he said, adding that the country also has the second-largest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers globally, behind the United States (US).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Generative AI startups revolutionise coding industry
Founders of code-gen startups and their investors believe they are in a land grab situation. — Reuters SAN FRANCISCO: Two years after the launch of ChatGPT, return on investment in generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been elusive, but one area stands out: software development. So-called code generation or 'code-gen' startups are commanding sky-high valuations as corporate boardrooms look to use AI to aid, and sometimes replace, expensive human software engineers. Cursor, a code generation startup based in San Francisco that can suggest and complete lines of code and write whole sections of code autonomously, raised US$900mil at a US$10bil valuation in May from a who's who list of tech investors, including Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Accel. Windsurf, a Mountain View-based startup behind the popular AI coding tool Codeium, attracted the attention of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which is now in talks to acquire the company for US$3bil, sources familiar with the matter said. Its tool is known for translating plain English commands into code, sometimes called 'vibe coding', which allows people with no knowledge of computer languages to write software. OpenAI and Windsurf declined to comment on the acquisition. 'AI has automated all the repetitive, tedious work,' said Scott Wu, chief executive officer of code-gen startup Cognition. 'The software engineer's role has already changed dramatically. It's not about memorising esoteric syntax anymore.' Founders of code-gen startups and their investors believe they are in a land grab situation, with a shrinking window to gain a critical mass of users and establish their AI coding tool as the industry standard. But because most are built on AI foundation models developed elsewhere, such as OpenAI, Anthropic or DeepSeek, their costs per query are also growing, and none are yet profitable. They're also at risk of being disrupted by Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, which all announced new code-gen products in May, and Anthropic is also working on one as well, two sources said. The rapid growth of these startups is coming despite competing on big tech's home turf. Microsoft's GitHub Copilot, launched in 2021 and considered code-gen's dominant player, grew to over US$500mil in revenue last year, according to a source familiar with the matter. — Reuters
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Apple loses bid to pause app store reform order in Epic Games case
FILE PHOTO: Fortnite game graphic is displayed on a smartphone in front of Apple logo in this illustration created on May 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo (Reuters) -Apple has failed to persuade a U.S. appeals court to pause key parts of a federal judge's order requiring the iPhone maker to immediately open its lucrative App Store to more competition. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected Apple's request to put the provisions on hold as the tech giant appeals the judge's order, which came in a long-running antitrust lawsuit brought by 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in April found Apple in contempt of an earlier injunction order she issued in the Epic Games case. The judge on April 30 ordered Apple to end several practices that she said were designed to circumvent the injunction, including a new 27% fee Apple imposed on app developers when its customers complete an app purchase outside the App Store. The court also prohibited Apple from restricting where developers place links to make purchases outside of an app. In its emergency appeal, Apple said the ruling blocked the company from "exercising control over core aspects of its business operations" and forced it to give away free access to its services. Epic Games countered that Apple was trying to continue evading competition and collecting fees that the judge had barred. Apple has faced a "surge of genuine competition" since Gonzalez Rogers issued her April injunction, as developers updated apps with "better payment methods, better deals, and better consumer choice," Epic said. Epic Games sued Apple in 2020 to loosen its control over transactions in applications that use its iOS operating system and how apps are distributed to consumers. Apple mostly won the case, but Gonzalez Rogers in 2021 said Apple must allow developers to more easily steer consumers to potentially cheaper non-Apple payment options. Apple defied that court order to maintain a revenue stream worth billions of dollars, Gonzalez Rogers wrote in April. She also said Apple had misled the court about its efforts to comply with her injunction and referred the company and one of its executives to federal prosecutors for a possible criminal contempt investigation. (Reporting by Mike Scarcella, Editing by David Bario Rosalba O'Brien)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Amazon's delivery and logistics will get an AI boost
FILE PHOTO: Amazon logo is seen in this illustration taken February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Amazon wants customers to know that artificial intelligence is not just for writing college essays. In a series of announcements Wednesday, Amazon demonstrated how stockroom robots, delivery people and its sprawling warehouses will all benefit from a hefty dose of artificial intelligence, speeding packages to customer doorsteps. The company said it is forming a new group at its Lab126 device unit focused on creating warehouse robots that will perform multiple tasks when prompted, a significant advance over today's robots that typically are designed for a singular job. Using so-called agentic AI, these robots will be able to unload trailers and then retrieve parts for repairs, according to Amazon. 'We're creating systems that can hear, understand and act on natural language commands, turning warehouse robots into flexible, multi-talented assistants,' Amazon said in a statement, without providing details such as what the robots might look like or cost. Amazon described the advances ahead of a press event Wednesday at Lab126 in Sunnyvale, California, where it gathered robotics and logistics executives for demonstrations. Among the additional announcements are that Amazon is using generative AI to create more advanced maps for its delivery drivers, so that they can more efficiently deliver packages for the final few yards (metres) of their journeys. The specialized AI will provide Amazon fine detail on building shapes, as well as obstacles and anything else they may need to navigate a package drop-off. 'This innovation is making it easier for Amazon drivers to find the right delivery spot, especially in tricky places like big office complexes,' Amazon said. That technology could be critical to specialized eyeglasses Amazon is developing for delivery drivers that Reuters reported exclusively last year. The company hopes to outfit drivers with screen-embedded glasses that free their hands from GPS devices and give them turn by turn directions while driving, as well as while carrying packages at their destination. Finally, Amazon said it AI will help it more efficiently predict what products customers will need and where to improve its same day delivery operations. On a more basic level, it means that winter coats likely will not be stocked in Phoenix warehouses in summer though Amazon suggested that other factors the software will consider are price, convenience, relying on factors such as weather and sales events, like Prime Day. In its announcement, Amazon promised to minimize waste through less carbon emissions and traffic as the result of the new AI. (Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Michael Perry)
