OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman met top Samsung Group executives in South Korea on Oct 31 to deepen cooperation on memory chips and AI infrastructure as global shortages intensify.

Samsung hosted Altman in Yongin, south of Seoul, for discussions with roughly 50 leaders across its electronics, financial and biotechnology affiliates.

The talks focused on how artificial intelligence will reshape industries, business opportunities and corporate decisions over the next decade, while data centre operators prepare to spend more than US$3 trillion on AI infrastructure in the coming years.

Data centre builders are fighting for limited factory allocations. The five largest companies driving the artificial intelligence infrastructure push plan to spend more than US$3 trillion in the coming years.

That volume of capital expenditure concentrates procurement power directly in East Asia. South Korea controls the bulk of the world’s high-bandwidth and advanced memory manufacturing capacity, turning local suppliers into the primary gatekeepers for global software deployment.

For hardware brands and consumer device manufacturers across the Asia-Pacific region, this supply crunch poses an immediate cost problem. Server buyers with massive cash reserves are hoovering up production lines, leaving personal computer makers and smartphone builders competing for the remaining silicon at elevated prices.

The Yongin talks build directly on an existing agreement between the two firms. Samsung previously agreed to supply memory chips for OpenAI’s Stargate computing project and to collaborate on building specialised data centres, including floating offshore facilities designed to handle massive power and cooling loads.

Securing Samsung’s manufacturing muscle gives OpenAI an alternative channel alongside its existing supplier relationships.

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