OpenAI's Altman Clinches Deal with Kakao, Second Major Asian Alliance This Week 

Open AI CEO Sam Altman, right, and Kakao CEO Shina Chung pose for the media at the Kakao media day in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP) 
Open AI CEO Sam Altman, right, and Kakao CEO Shina Chung pose for the media at the Kakao media day in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP) 
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OpenAI's Altman Clinches Deal with Kakao, Second Major Asian Alliance This Week 

Open AI CEO Sam Altman, right, and Kakao CEO Shina Chung pose for the media at the Kakao media day in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP) 
Open AI CEO Sam Altman, right, and Kakao CEO Shina Chung pose for the media at the Kakao media day in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP) 

OpenAI said on Tuesday it will develop artificial intelligence products for South Korea with chat app operator Kakao, unveiling a second major alliance with a high-profile Asian partner this week.

In a whirlwind tour through Asia, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman also announced a partnership with Japan's SoftBank Group on Monday and is, according to sources, scheduled to visit India on Wednesday where he is seeking to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Like SoftBank, Kakao said it would be using technology developed by the ChatGPT creator for its products.

Kakao operates South Korea's dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, which commands a whopping 97% domestic market share and has expanded into areas such as e-commerce, payments and gaming. It has positioned AI as a new engine of growth but analysts say it has lagged behind local rival Naver in the AI race.

"We are particularly interested in AI and messaging," Altman told a press conference he held with Kakao CEO Chung Shina in Seoul.

Altman also said many Korean companies will be important contributors to the ecosystem of the US Stargate data center project. He declined to elaborate, saying he wants to keep partnership conversations confidential.

He met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won earlier on Tuesday. He also plans to meet with Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son in Seoul later in the day, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported.

Both SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics produce high bandwidth memory chips used in AI processors.

Samsung declined to comment on the newspaper report, while SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, US President Donald Trump announced private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund AI infrastructure, noting OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle were planning a data center venture called Stargate for artificial intelligence projects.

"There is so much happening in Korea that will be critical for that," Altman said.

He added that Korea's energy, semiconductor and internet companies made the country an important market for OpenAI, noting that Korean demand for AI products was growing "super fast".

Asked whether OpenAI is looking at joining and investing in South Korea's AI computing center project, Altman said the US company is "actively considering" such a move.

Last month, the South Korean government said it planned to build a national AI computing center that would draw on investment from the public and private sectors worth up to 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion).

Kakao Shares were up 0.2% on Tuesday after surging 9% on Monday.



Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
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Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has temporarily paused downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea while it works with local authorities to address privacy concerns, South Korean officials said Monday.

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission said DeepSeek’s apps were removed from the local versions of Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening and that the company agreed to work with the agency to strengthen privacy protections before relaunching the apps.

The action does not affect users who have already downloaded DeepSeek on their phones or use it on personal computers. Nam Seok, director of the South Korean commission’s investigation division, advised South Korean users of DeepSeek to delete the app from their devices or avoid entering personal information into the tool until the issues are resolved.

DeepSeek got worldwide attention last month when it claimed it built its popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by US companies. The resulting frenzy upended markets and fueled debates over competition between the US and China in developing AI technology.

Many South Korean government agencies and companies have either blocked DeepSeek from their networks or prohibited employees from using the app for work, amid worries that the AI model was gathering too much sensitive information.

The South Korean privacy commission, which began reviewing DeepSeek’s services last month, found that the company lacked transparency about third-party data transfers and potentially collected excessive personal information, Nam said.

Nam said the commission did not have an estimate on the number of DeepSeek users in South Korea. A recent analysis by Wiseapp Retail found that DeepSeek was used by about 1.2 million smartphone users in South Korea during the fourth week of January, emerging as the second-most-popular AI model behind ChatGPT.