Home » OpenAI expands in Asia and partnerships with Kakao and Softbank

OpenAI expands in Asia and partnerships with Kakao and Softbank

As competition in AI intensifies, OpenAI is ramping up its presence in Asia through high-profile partnerships, securing strategic deals in South Korea and Japan. These agreements not only extend OpenAI’s commercial reach but also provide access to vast datasets in Asian languages, strengthening its AI models against rising competitors like China’s DeepSeek.

Kakao Partnership: AI-Powered Expansion in Korea

OpenAI announced a strategic collaboration with Kakao, the South Korean tech giant behind KakaoTalk, one of the most popular messaging apps in the region.

The partnership, unveiled at a Seoul event by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Kakao CEO Shina Chung, will focus on three key projects:

  • Kanana: A Korean-language AI assistant powered by OpenAI.
  • KakaoTalk Integration: Embedding OpenAI’s AI models into the messaging platform.
  • Enterprise Adoption: Kakao employees will use ChatGPT Enterprise for internal operations.

South Korea is a rapidly growing AI market, and OpenAI aims to capitalize on its tech-savvy user base. Altman emphasized the country’s strong AI adoption across industries, from semiconductors to energy.

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SoftBank’s $3 Billion Annual Commitment

The OpenAI-Kakao deal follows an even larger partnership with SoftBank, announced just a day earlier. The Japanese tech giant is committing $3 billion annually to integrate OpenAI’s solutions across its subsidiaries. This includes:

  • ChatGPT Enterprise & API: AI-powered solutions for SoftBank’s group companies.
  • Operator & o3-mini: Implementing OpenAI’s latest AI agents and reasoning models.
  • SB OpenAI Japan: A joint venture dedicated to offering OpenAI’s AI products to large enterprises in Japan.

Beyond software, Arm, the UK-based chip designer owned by SoftBank, will use OpenAI’s technology to enhance productivity.

Bigger Investments & The Stargate Project

SoftBank is also reportedly in talks to lead a funding round for OpenAI worth up to $40 billion, potentially valuing the company at $300 billion.

Additionally, OpenAI is collaborating with SoftBank and Oracle on the Stargate Project, a $100 billion AI data center initiative launching in Texas. Over four years, investment could scale up to $500 billion, underscoring the growing demand for AI infrastructure.

OpenAI’s Global Strategy & Competitive Landscape

These partnerships are critical for OpenAI’s global expansion, particularly in non-English-speaking markets. With millions of Korean and Japanese users engaging with AI-powered platforms, OpenAI can train its models more effectively in diverse languages.

Meanwhile, China’s DeepSeek has demonstrated the potential for non-U.S. AI companies to gain traction in the English-language generative AI market. OpenAI’s expansion strategy ensures it remains competitive by strengthening its multilingual capabilities.

At the same time, Altman is in talks with Samsung and SK Hynix, two of Korea’s biggest semiconductor manufacturers, regarding custom AI chips—an area where OpenAI joins the likes of Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta in building proprietary AI hardware.

With these billion-dollar deals and expanding Asian partnerships, OpenAI is reinforcing its position as the global AI leader, while ensuring its models remain competitive across different languages and markets.

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