Why it matters. Samsung and SK hynix make most of the world's AI memory chips, so how their parent groups adopt AI internally hints at where the global AI supply chain's biggest players are betting next.
Background. Samsung and SK are 'chaebol' — sprawling, family-controlled conglomerates that anchor South Korea's economy and span dozens of affiliates. Korea's 'big four' groups (Samsung, SK, Hyundai, LG) set agendas that ripple across the national economy, so a group-wide AI policy is a notable signal. SK's SUPEX Council is the body where its affiliate heads coordinate strategy.
What to watch next. Watch whether the other top conglomerates follow Samsung in formally adopting outside AI tools group-wide, and what concrete roadmaps emerge from SK's forum.
Korea’s Chip Giants Pivot to AI
South Korea’s two largest conglomerates, Samsung Group and SK Group, are mounting a coordinated push to embed artificial intelligence across their businesses, with Samsung hosting OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Suwon on June 15 and SK Group running a three-day internal AI strategy forum in Icheon from June 11. Both moves signal that the parent companies of Korea’s leading semiconductor makers now see an internal “AI transformation” as a top management priority.
Samsung and SK are best known internationally as rivals in memory chips — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix together dominate the global market for the high-bandwidth memory that powers AI data centers. Now both groups are turning that same AI wave inward, reorganizing how their own employees work.
Samsung Brings In Sam Altman
Samsung Electronics’ device division (DX), which makes smartphones and home appliances, has invited Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT — to headline an “Insight Talk” at its Suwon campus on the morning of June 15. The session focuses on AI-driven changes to how work gets done.
It will be Altman’s first official visit to South Korea in eight months, following an October trip. During the visit he is expected to meet senior Samsung leaders, including Jun Young-hyun, who heads the semiconductor (DS) division, and Roh Tae-moon, who leads the device business. A meeting with Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong looks unlikely, as he is traveling abroad.
The event follows Samsung’s announcement on June 9 that it would roll out external generative AI tools such as ChatGPT for staff across all of its affiliated companies. Samsung says it wants AI used broadly in daily work to drive an AI-centered overhaul of operations. It is the first of South Korea’s four largest conglomerates to set a group-wide policy formally adopting and supporting outside AI models.
SK Merges Its Two Flagship Meetings
SK Group, meanwhile, is holding a three-day forum at its Icheon research campus under the theme of AI-driven disruption and a shift toward AI-centered management. The “2026 New Icheon Forum” draws some 50 executives, including Chairman Chey Tae-won, Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, and Chey Chang-won, head of the group’s SUPEX Council.
This year marks the first time SK has merged two previously separate events: the executive-level “Management Strategy Meeting” and the employee-focused “Icheon Forum.” On the opening day, leaders shared AI transformation goals and roadmaps for key member companies and discussed innovation in a CEO panel. The second day featured employee-led debate, and on the final day, June 13, each company is set to present its AI plans and reaffirm a group-wide commitment.
Background note: The SUPEX Council is SK Group’s top coordinating body, where leaders of its many affiliates align strategy — a structure reflecting the family-led “chaebol” model that defines Korea’s biggest business empires.
