Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is set to return to South Korea on June 15 to participate in the 2026 Device eXperience Insight Talk at Samsung Electronics' Suwon campus. This event will primarily focus on the adoption of artificial intelligence and the potential for further collaboration between OpenAI and Samsung.
Wondering why Altman frequently visits Seoul? The key reason lies in Stargate, OpenAI’s ambitious initiative to create a global network of hyperscale AI data centers by 2029. This project is expected to be OpenAI’s largest infrastructure effort, with projected costs reaching $500 billion. To meet the demands of these data centers, a substantial quantity of memory chips—especially DRAM and high-bandwidth memory—is critical. Samsung is one of the leading manufacturers of these essential components.
The collaboration between OpenAI and Samsung is not new; it began taking shape well before the upcoming June discussions. A notable meeting took place in October 2025 with Samsung's leadership, which included South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung. This high-level meeting resulted in agreements for Samsung and SK Hynix, another major Korean chipmaker, to supply OpenAI with as many as 900,000 DRAM wafers every month—amounting to around 40% of the global production capacity for DRAM.
Altman has deepened this relationship through previous visits, including an inspection of Samsung’s facilities in January 2024 and further discussions on AI integration in February 2025. The upcoming June 2026 event marks a significant development in this ongoing partnership.
The framing of the DX Insight Talk is also crucial; Samsung’s Device Experience division covers consumer electronics and mobile technology. This indicates that the discussions may extend beyond basic data center logistics and explore how OpenAI’s advanced AI models could be interwoven into Samsung's diverse product offerings, such as Galaxy smartphones.
The implications for the semiconductor market are noteworthy. Following the agreements reached in October 2025, DRAM contract prices surged by as much as 171% in specific segments of the market.
Other major tech players like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are also in the race to establish large-scale AI data centers. As OpenAI secures an extensive allocation of DRAM through its partnerships, its competitors may face increased costs for remaining supply or may need to seek alternative suppliers.
Samsung finds itself in a unique position. As a key supplier to OpenAI, the company also competes in the AI device sector through its electronics. The DX Insight Talk underscores Samsung's strategy to both enhance its products with OpenAI’s capabilities and capitalize on its hardware supply to facilitate those advancements.