Lee Jae-Yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, Sam Altman, chief executive officer (CEO) of OpenAI, and Masayoshi Son, chairman of SoftBank, gathered to discuss the next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) project called "Stargate." It is assumed that CEO Altman and Son requested Samsung Electronics' investment in the Stargate project and discussed collaboration in mobile and AI semiconductor technology and production.
On the afternoon of the 4th, Son held a meeting at the Samsung Electronics Seocho Building with CEO Altman and discussed the Stargate project being led by OpenAI and SoftBank for about two hours. At the meeting, Son mentioned to reporters, "We had a good discussion." He explained that the core topic of the meeting was "mainly discussing AI and mobile strategies and checking for updates." He added, "We will continue discussions in the future," noting that "Korea has excellent engineers and technology."
◇ $729 trillion project Stargate… blueprint for the world's strongest AI platform
The Stargate project aims to invest $500 billion (approximately 729 trillion won) in the United States to establish the AI corporation "Stargate" and build physical and virtual infrastructure for the next-generation AI development. This includes the construction of large-scale data centers. SoftBank plans to invest more than $15 billion in Stargate, along with an additional direct investment of $15 billion to $25 billion in OpenAI, totaling over $40 billion in investment.
It is widely believed that CEO Altman's recent visits to Japan, Korea, and Europe are aimed at consolidating the strongest AI alliance under "Stargate" through investment attraction and technology cooperation. The blueprint is to combine the powerful AI hardware and software ecosystem led by NVIDIA and Google in the United States with the financial resources of Japan and India and Korea's semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.
CEO Altman is expected to meet with several investors to raise funds in the future. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), OpenAI is seeking up to $40 billion in investment. CEO Altman previously emphasized that the DeepShift case highlights the necessity of the Stargate project during a closed-door meeting with policymakers in the United States.
◇ "Samsung has already expressed its intention to participate in the OpenAI project last year"
According to a high-ranking Samsung official, Samsung Electronics also expressed its willingness to participate in the blueprint envisioned by OpenAI last year. The official noted, "An AI semiconductor alliance centered around OpenAI will soon be launched, and Samsung Electronics will play a significant role in it," adding that "not only Samsung but also various corporations from Korea, the United States, and Japan will join forces to bring a new breeze to the AI semiconductor market."
Chairman Lee Jae-Yong is reported to have maintained a strong personal relationship with CEO Altman, and on the day of the meeting, Son's emphasis on "updates" suggests that Samsung Electronics, OpenAI, and SoftBank have been discussing collaboration behind the scenes. However, it remains uncertain how much weight Samsung Electronics will hold in the project.
In Samsung Electronics' case, they have not only memory semiconductors, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), but also possess advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities in collaboration with Taiwan's TSMC. Currently, among global foundry companies, only TSMC and Samsung Electronics have stabilized the 3-nanometer process for mass production. Additionally, Samsung Electronics owns advanced packaging technology that can enhance the performance of completed chips.
Meanwhile, CEO Altman of OpenAI visited Korea in June 2023 and January last year. His visits have garnered attention as they were related to the establishment of an "AI semiconductor alliance" for developing AI semiconductors. Notably, during his visit in January last year, he toured the semiconductor production line at Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek plant and held consecutive meetings with the top executives of Samsung and SK.