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Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, speaks during the opening session of the 48th KCCI Summer Forum. / Source: Yonhap News

Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, met with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, last week in San Francisco to explore further collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), according to industry sources on Tuesday.

This marked their first meeting in five months following their last encounter in Seoul in February, when they held a 40-minute private discussion at The Plaza Hotel after OpenAI's inaugural closed-door workshop in Korea, "Builder Lab." The two leaders have also met multiple times previously, including in January and June last year, maintaining an ongoing relationship.

During the latest meeting, Chey is said to have discussed a wide range of cooperative efforts with Altman, including the expansion of the AI ecosystem and advancements in AI semiconductors.

SK Hynix's supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips and SK Telecom’s construction of AI data centers were likely on the agenda as well, as key executives including SK Inc. CEO Kwak Noh-jung reportedly joined the talks.

Chey also personally invited Altman to the upcoming APEC CEO Summit, scheduled to take place in Gyeongju this October.

At the APEC Business Advisory Council meeting held on July 18, Chey emphasized the need to elevate the summit to a true global gathering of top business leaders, urging Korean companies to leverage their global networks to attract major figures from around the world.