AI chip supply shortages intensify as OpenAI CEO meets with ~50 Samsung executives to deepen collaboration

According to Bloomberg, on October 31, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with approximately 50 senior executives from Samsung Group—including leaders from Samsung Electronics, Samsung Financial Services, and Samsung Biologics—in South Korea. The discussions centered on two key areas: memory chips and AI infrastructure, with both sides exploring the systemic impact of AI over the next decade on industry landscapes, corporate strategic decision-making, and emerging business opportunities.

The meeting comes at a critical juncture as global memory chip supply tightens and prices continue to rise—driven by surging procurement demand from data center operators, which is intensifying competition on the supply side. Meanwhile, the world’s five leading AI infrastructure players have collectively planned to invest over $3 trillion in the coming years, with memory chips accounting for roughly one-third of total data center spending.

This dialogue also marks a substantive advancement of the existing collaboration framework between the two parties—including supplying customized memory chips for OpenAI’s “Stargate” infrastructure project, as well as co-developing innovative AI data center concepts, such as offshore floating data centers.