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Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, who is on a business trip to the United States, is taking a commemorative photo with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group's Instagram
Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, met with CEOs of major U.S. information technology (IT) companies known as 'Big Tech' to discuss ways to strengthen AI competitiveness between SK and these companies. Earlier this year in April, Chairman Choi solidified an 'AI hardware (HW) partnership' through meetings with the CEOs of Nvidia and, earlier this month, TSMC. During this visit to the U.S., he is seeking collaboration with global companies by reinforcing partnerships with AI service firms and expanding SK Group's 'AI ecosystem' spanning from semiconductors to services.
According to SK Group on the 27th, Chairman Choi met with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, at the OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco to discuss cooperation plans between the two companies and the future of rapidly evolving AI technology and industry. They exchanged views on technologies to efficiently respond to the explosive growth of AI and related industries and also discussed collaboration on 'personal AI' services with SK.
Chairman Choi also visited Microsoft (MS) headquarters in Redmond, U.S., where he met with CEO Satya Nadella. They shared a common intention to strengthen cooperation related to AI, including semiconductors, data centers, and language models, which SK Group and MS are promoting. Chairman Choi introduced SK's AI and semiconductor competitiveness, including the 'AI ecosystem,' to CEO Nadella. Both management teams agreed to continue holding regular meetings to develop collaborative relationships across various areas of the future AI industry.
SK Telecom CEO Yoo Young-sang, SK Hynix President Kim Ju-seon (in charge of AI infrastructure), and other executives from SK Group's AI and semiconductor sectors accompanied Chairman Choi on these visits.
Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, who is on a business trip to the United States, is taking a commemorative photo with Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Photo by Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group's Instagram.
Chairman Choi also posted a photo on his social media account with CEOs Altman and Nadella. Along with the photo, he wrote, "I am having daily meetings with 'IT insiders' in San Francisco and Seattle," adding, "They warmly welcomed and embraced the ideas we brought, so I don't feel the fatigue of jet lag and feel energized." He continued, "I see unprecedented opportunities here where the heartbeat of the massive AI wave is pounding," and said, "This is undoubtedly a historic time for everyone. Either jump in now or be left behind forever." At the end of the post, Chairman Choi left the English phrase "Life goes on."
The Big Tech CEOs Chairman Choi met with are leading the global market in AI-powered service areas. Both OpenAI and MS are introducing AI services such as generative AI and cloud solutions that make customers' daily lives more valuable, nurturing related industry ecosystems. Chairman Choi introduced SK's AI service capabilities, including SK Telecom's AI service 'A. Dot,' which has about 4 million subscribers, to the Big Tech CEOs and shared operational experiences.
This laid the foundation for collaboration with Big Tech to realize 'AI services that create a better life for humanity,' continuing the cooperation with semiconductor leaders such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in April and TSMC Chairman Wei Zhejia earlier this month.
An SK official said, "Chairman Choi's meetings with U.S. Big Tech executives confirm the willingness for cooperation between SK and Big Tech centered on AI and semiconductors, and are part of SK's efforts to create future growth engines in these fields. Based on Chairman Choi's global leadership and SK's AI and semiconductor competitiveness, we will strengthen cooperation with partner companies."
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