Sam Altman is exploring new business partnerships in the wake of DeepSeek making waves in the western market. Kakao, which owns an online bank, South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing app and messaging app KakaoTalk, announced on Tuesday a partnership allowing it to use ChatGPT for its new artificial intelligence services, joining a global alliance led by OpenAI amid intensifying competition in the sector.
“We’re excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao’s millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao’s users communicate and connect,” Altman said in a press conference held at Seoul to announce the partnership.
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“Kakao has a deep understanding of how technology can enrich everyday lives,” he added.
Sam Altman is one of the co-founders of OpenAI and has played a key leadership role in its development. OpenAI is a research organization focused on creating and promoting friendly artificial intelligence (AI). Altman was previously the president of Y Combinator, a well-known startup accelerator, before transitioning to OpenAI where he became its CEO.
Under Altman’s leadership, OpenAI has made significant strides in the development of advanced AI models, most notably the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) series, including GPT-3 and GPT-4. These models are capable of understanding and generating human-like text, and they’ve been widely adopted across various industries for tasks like content creation, customer support, and even programming assistance.
Sam Altman has emphasized the importance of ensuring that AI is developed in a way that is beneficial to humanity. OpenAI, originally founded as a nonprofit organization, later transitioned to a “capped-profit” model, allowing it to attract the funding needed for its ambitious research goals. This shift was made to balance the financial needs of building advanced AI systems with OpenAI’s mission to ensure the technology is aligned with broad societal interests.
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Additionally, Altman’s company is part of the Stargate Project, announced by President Donald Trump, which seeks to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the U.S.
However, it seems that DeepSeek has made Altman nervous, and this latest business partnership is a means to bolster confidence in his investors.