OpenAI is deepening its partnership with Samsung Electronics on next-generation artificial intelligence chips while reporting explosive growth in enterprise AI adoption across South Korea, marking a significant shift in how major corporations are integrating ChatGPT into their operations. The collaboration spans semiconductor development and enterprise services, with Samsung emerging as one of the largest global deployments of ChatGPT.

Why Is OpenAI Partnering With Samsung on Custom Chips?

OpenAI is building its own specialized chips to power ChatGPT and other AI applications more efficiently. In June, the company unveiled its first custom AI chip, called Jalapeno, which it designed with Broadcom for a process known as AI inference, the computational work required to answer user queries in real time. Now, OpenAI is expanding this effort by working directly with Samsung on next-generation chip designs.

"One of the areas where we have made the most progress and gained the most recognition with Samsung Electronics is our joint production and research on the next-generation chips we are developing," said Harrison Kim, OpenAI Korea general manager.

Harrison Kim, OpenAI Korea General Manager

The partnership makes strategic sense. Samsung and SK Hynix, another South Korean chipmaker, previously signed agreements to supply memory chips for OpenAI's Stargate data center project, a massive infrastructure initiative announced last year. As AI models become more advanced and require faster, more complex computing, demand for high-quality memory chips continues to grow, making South Korean semiconductor suppliers essential to OpenAI's infrastructure plans.

How Are South Korean Companies Using ChatGPT at Scale?

The growth in enterprise adoption tells a compelling story about how AI is moving from experimental tools to core business infrastructure. OpenAI reported that the number of ChatGPT Enterprise users at South Korean companies and institutions surged approximately 28-fold between August 2025 and August 2026, a dramatic acceleration that reflects broader corporate confidence in generative AI.

Samsung itself has become a major user of ChatGPT internally. The company allows employees across its Device eXperience division, which oversees mobile phones, televisions, and home appliances, to use ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude for work tasks. This internal adoption mirrors a broader trend among large enterprises integrating multiple AI tools into their workflows.

Ways Companies Are Deploying ChatGPT Across Business Functions

The expansion of ChatGPT Enterprise adoption reflects how organizations are moving beyond isolated AI experiments to company-wide integration. Here are the primary business functions where South Korean companies are deploying ChatGPT:

• Legal Services: Companies are using ChatGPT to assist with document review, contract analysis, and legal research tasks that traditionally required significant human time.
• Sales and Marketing: Teams are leveraging AI to generate content, analyze customer data, and personalize outreach campaigns at scale.
• Finance and Operations: Finance departments are using ChatGPT for data analysis, reporting, and process automation, while operations teams apply it to supply chain optimization and resource planning.
• Research and Development: Samsung employees specifically use ChatGPT across R&D functions to accelerate innovation and technical problem-solving.

This diversification across departments signals that companies no longer view AI as a single-use tool but as a general-purpose technology applicable to nearly every business function.

What's Driving This Acceleration in South Korea?

South Korea has emerged as a critical market for OpenAI outside the United States. The country had the largest number of paying ChatGPT subscribers outside the U.S. as of late 2025, according to OpenAI. This strong consumer adoption has created a foundation for enterprise expansion, as companies see their employees already familiar with ChatGPT and recognize its potential for productivity gains.

The timing of this growth coincides with OpenAI's September 4 launch of GPT-6 Astra, its latest large language model (LLM), which the company says offers improved performance in computer use, professional work, science, coding, and cybersecurity. OpenAI expects this new model to accelerate adoption further, particularly among enterprises seeking more capable AI tools for complex tasks.

"Demand for memory chips would continue to grow as more advanced chips were needed to enable faster and more complex computing, making cooperation with South Korean semiconductor suppliers a priority for OpenAI's local office," noted Harrison Kim.

Harrison Kim, OpenAI Korea General Manager

The partnership between OpenAI and Samsung reflects a broader strategic reality: building cutting-edge AI requires not just software innovation but also deep collaboration with hardware manufacturers. As AI models grow more sophisticated and demanding, the companies that control chip supply chains gain significant leverage in shaping the future of artificial intelligence. For South Korea, this partnership positions the country as a critical node in global AI infrastructure, extending far beyond consumer applications into the backbone systems that power enterprise AI worldwide.