Met with 100 Korean Developers at 'OpenAI Builder Lab Seoul' on the 4th for Q&A
"Focusing on ChatGPT, but Open to Collaboration on Specialized Services by Country and Industry"
"Deep Research Will Be Useful Across Industries"
"Hope to Collaborate with Korean Startups"
Demonstration Video of New Product 'Operator' Also Presented
Sam Altman, CEO and founder of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is attending the 'Kakao Media Day' held at the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 4th, having a conversation with Jeong Sin-ah, CEO of Kakao. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated that "the point at which AI (artificial intelligence) reaches a level superior to humans is not far off." According to Asia Economy's coverage on the 4th, Altman made this remark in response to a developer's question at the 'OpenAI Builder Lab Seoul' event held at the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, asking, "When will AI performance reach 100%?"
The event was held privately with about 100 attendees, including representatives of domestic AI companies and CTO-level developers. Each company sent one or two participants to the event for a Q&A session with CEO Altman. Developers asked in-depth questions related to AI technology, and Altman reportedly provided detailed answers.
When asked if OpenAI has plans to develop a new "killer app" (a decisive app that leads to the popularization of a platform or technology), Altman replied, "We are continuously adding new features like 'Deep Research' centered around the existing ChatGPT." He said, "We pursue General Intelligence and currently choose to expand based on ChatGPT." He added, "We are considering collaboration possibilities in specialized areas by country and industry." This means that instead of directly creating new apps, OpenAI plans to expand its domain by enhancing ChatGPT's functions and collaborating with other companies.
Altman explained that ChatGPT's new service, Deep Research, unveiled the day before, is also part of these efforts. Deep Research not only searches when users ask questions but also performs in-depth analysis. He said, "I was impressed by the diverse ways people use Deep Research," adding, "It is utilized not only for searching but also in various fields such as e-commerce, consulting replacement, and tax analysis." He continued, "I believe there is an opportunity to improve industries that have been operating inefficiently by leveraging AI."
At the event, another OpenAI tool called 'Operator' was also demonstrated. Operator is a service released by OpenAI on the 23rd of last month. It operates a web browser with AI to automatically perform tasks instructed by users. Currently, it is primarily available to subscribers of the $200 per month Pro version. Due to a program error, Altman could not demonstrate it live and instead presented a pre-prepared video.
Regarding the Korean market, Altman emphasized, "Korea is an important country in building the AI ecosystem, including semiconductors and energy," and said, "I visited to strengthen cooperation with local startups." This was a response to concerns that OpenAI's latest features might be released late in Korea. He also did not avoid answering specific questions about hot topics in the AI industry, such as DeepSeek and open source.
After the demonstration, a 'hands-on' practical session for developers was held. Developers practiced coding using the OpenAI API (Application Programming Interface) on their own laptops. OpenAI provided initial code and assignments. OpenAI engineers were reportedly on-site to offer technical advice. Park Jimin, a client AI engineer invited to the event, commented, "It was a familiar format of a developer event where new products are demonstrated and practiced," but added, "I think it was a differentiated event in terms of the depth of the Q&A session and the specificity of the answers."
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