OpenAI, the well-known American artificial intelligence company, is making big moves in Asia, especially after the recent success of a Chinese AI company called DeepSeek. DeepSeek has gained a lot of attention, and now OpenAI is looking to expand its own presence in Asian markets. This expansion will help OpenAI improve its AI technology by training it with more content and understanding user behavior in different Asian languages, which could lead to better business opportunities in those regions.
Today, OpenAI announced a new partnership with Kakao, a major tech company in South Korea that runs one of the most popular messaging apps called KakaoTalk. This partnership was revealed during a special event in Seoul, where both Kakao’s CEO, Shina Chung, and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, spoke about their collaboration.
This announcement comes just a day after another major development: SoftBank, a large Japanese technology company, revealed that it plans to spend $3 billion to use OpenAI’s technology across its various businesses. They are also starting a joint venture called SB OpenAI Japan, which will focus on creating AI solutions tailored for Japanese companies.
In the partnership with Kakao, the two companies will work on three main projects. They plan to create a new Korean-language AI assistant named Kanana, integrate OpenAI’s technology into KakaoTalk, and use OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise for internal communication among Kakao employees.
The relationship between SoftBank and OpenAI is also deepening, as SoftBank is reportedly considering a significant investment in OpenAI, which has not yet been confirmed. Additionally, they are collaborating on a project called Stargate, aimed at building powerful AI servers and infrastructure in the United States.
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These partnerships with Kakao and SoftBank are significant because they will help OpenAI bring its services to new users in their native languages. Sam Altman highlighted the importance of South Korea as a market, noting that the country is advanced in adopting AI technology across various industries, making it a crucial area for OpenAI’s growth.
Moreover, these collaborations will allow OpenAI to continue improving its AI models. By working with major companies in Korea and Japan, OpenAI gains access to millions of users, which helps them understand different languages and cultural contexts better. This is especially important in light of DeepSeek’s success, as it shows that companies outside of the U.S. can compete effectively in the AI space.
Interestingly, SoftBank had previously planned to create its own AI company called SB Intuitions, which aimed to develop AI in Japanese. However, there is currently no clear information about the status of that initiative, whether it has been abandoned, or if it will be incorporated into the new joint venture with OpenAI.
In addition to the partnership with Kakao, Altman is also meeting with other major South Korean tech companies, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, to discuss potential collaborations on AI technology and custom-designed computer chips.
As for the partnership with SoftBank, it was announced that they will spend $3 billion each year to implement OpenAI’s technologies, such as ChatGPT Enterprise, across various SoftBank companies. The new joint venture, SB OpenAI Japan, will focus on providing OpenAI’s enterprise technology to large businesses in Japan.
Just last week, OpenAI introduced new tools, including Operator, which can help users with tasks like planning vacations and making restaurant reservations, and o3-mini, a new, cost-effective AI model. They also launched a feature called Deep Research, which can perform detailed internet research for complex tasks.
SoftBank, which owns the chip designer Arm, plans to use OpenAI’s tools to enhance productivity within its operations. Reports suggest that SoftBank may lead a funding round for OpenAI that could be worth up to $40 billion, potentially valuing the company at $300 billion.
Lastly, OpenAI is collaborating with SoftBank and Oracle to build multiple data centers for AI in the U.S. as part of the Stargate Project, starting with a large data center in Texas. The three companies plan to invest initially $100 billion, with the possibility of contributing up to $500 billion over the next four years.
