OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, said on the 29th that it has appointed Kim Kyung-hoon, former head of Google Korea, as head of its Korea office. The new head, Kim, will lead OpenAI's strategic partnerships and the expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in Korea.
Kim, who graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in computer science and earned an MBA from Duke University in the United States, served as head of Google Korea from 2021 until recently. Previously, he built his career across various areas, including mobile advertising and search advertising, after serving as head of Google Marketing Solutions in Korea and head of strategy and operations for the Asia-Pacific region (APAC). Before that, he carried out strategy projects for many corporations in information and communications technology (ICT), consumer goods, and manufacturing at Bain & Company's Seoul office.
Oliver Jay, head of international business at OpenAI, said, "Korea is one of the fastest countries in the world to adopt AI, and Kim Kyung-hoon is the right person to lead innovation amid this opportunity," adding, "Based on his extensive experience and leadership, we expect OpenAI Korea to play an important role in accelerating Korea's great AI transition by expanding Korea's AI ecosystem, further strengthening Korea's status as a global innovation hub, and helping it leap forward as one of the top three in AI."
Kim said, "By combining Korea's innovation capacity with OpenAI's technology, I will help Korea establish itself as a global AI leader," adding, "As usage of ChatGPT and OpenAI's application programming interface (API) platform is growing rapidly, we will present a responsible AI utilization model through close collaboration with industry, the developer community, academia, and the government, and create positive and sustainable changes across Korean society."