OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will visit South Korea to meet with President Yoon Seok-yeol and leaders of about 100 Korean startups on Friday, Reuters reported, amid South Korea’s efforts to encourage local companies to continue to improve their competitiveness in the AI field.
▲ Photo by OpenAI
After meeting with European lawmakers and national leaders last month to discuss the prospects and threats of AI, SamAltman has traveled to Israel, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, India and other countries this week, with South Korea as the last stop on his trip this week.
In an AI landscape dominated by China and the U.S., South Korea is one of the few countries to have developed the underlying models on its own, thanks to a strong push from local tech companies such as Naver, Kakao and LG.
Citing statements from Naver executives, the Financial Times reported in May that Naver is working to develop localized AI apps for Middle Eastern countries as well as non-English speaking countries such as Spain and Mexico.
The European Union is moving forward with its draft AI bill, which is expected to take effect later this year. The South Korean parliament is discussing and drafting a similar bill, which is widely believed to be more lenient than the EU’s provisions.
In February, a special committee of the South Korean parliament passed a draft AI law that guarantees the freedom to release AI products and services, and that regulators will only restrict products if they believe they endanger people’s lives and legal rights.
South Korea’s Ministry of Science, Technology, Information and Communications announced plans in April to focus on promoting AI in the country, such as providing data sets for training super-scale AI, while the country continues to discuss AI ethics and regulations.
