Seoul becomes OpenAI's latest hub amid rising ChatGPT use
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, said Monday that it has established a Korean subsidiary, marking the official beginning of its entry into the Korean market.
It has also unveiled plans to open its first office in Seoul within the coming months, although the exact location of the office has yet to be determined.
The company said it will soon begin hiring employees tasked with building partnerships across key sectors, including government and enterprise.
Currently, OpenAI operates two regional offices in Asia alone -- Tokyo and Singapore. Over the past year, it has expanded its global footprint to 11 cities, including London, Dublin, Brussels and Paris.
Even before its official market entry to Asia's fourth-largest economy, OpenAI had engaged with Korean institutions -- partnering with the Korea Development Bank to co-host a finance forum focused on domestic data center development and startup support.
It has also formed partnerships with major local players such as Kakao, Krafton and SK Telecom to introduce advanced AI technologies.
With its Korean launch, OpenAI aims to deepen cooperation with local policymakers, businesses, developers and researchers to help shape a distinctly Korean approach to AI.
The company emphasized its commitment to ensuring the benefits of AI are shared widely and responsibly across the region.
However, OpenAI has not disclosed specific plans regarding the construction of a local data center.
According to OpenAI, the number of weekly active ChatGPT users in Korea has surged more than 4.5 times over the past year. Korea now ranks second globally, behind only the US, in terms of paid subscribers.
In user volume, Korea is among the top 10 countries globally for ChatGPT usage. The country also ranks in the global top 10 for the number of developers utilizing the OpenAI API and is among the top 5 for paid business users.
'Korea offers a full-stack AI ecosystem -- from semiconductors to software -- and its people, across all generations, are actively using AI in their daily lives,' said Jason Kwon, chief strategy officer at OpenAI.
'We are committed to delivering meaningful and tangible AI benefits to everyone in Korea," he added.
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