OpenAI said on the 9th that the number of ChatGPT Enterprise users in South Korea has grown 28-fold from a year earlier, as the company marked the first anniversary of its Korean office. The company plans to accelerate AI transformation with frontier models including GPT-6 Astra, released this month, and to expand its local ecosystem by adding partners for its cybersecurity model Daybreak.
Kim Kyung-hoon, head of OpenAI Korea, made the remarks at a press conference at the Josun Palace hotel in Seoul's Gangnam district marking one year since the official launch of the Korean office. "Companies used to use AI at the level of chatbots, but now they are building teams with AI to create new products and services," Kim said. Agentic AI built on powerful frontier models has begun handling complex tasks across legal, human resources, accounting, marketing and sales functions, according to Kim.
Domestic users of Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, and ChatGPT Work, its agentic AI for workplace support, have also risen 14-fold in the six months since March this year. Referring to GPT-6 Astra, unveiled on the 3rd of this month, Kim said, "There will be a growing number of cases where AI is used to carry complex tasks through to completion and deliver tangible results." OpenAI also plans to expand its infrastructure in Korea. The company currently offers data residency for ChatGPT Enterprise, Edu and API customers, and Kim said, "We are in talks with domestic infrastructure providers to introduce inference residency so that model inference, not just data storage, can be handled within Korea."
The company is also strengthening cooperation with businesses, centered on cybersecurity. OpenAI has created a new partner track for Daybreak, its cybersecurity initiative, and plans to select five or more partners in Korea. Samsung SDS (018260) has become the first Korean company chosen as a Daybreak pilot partner, with the remaining partners to be announced in stages.
OpenAI Korea also plans to expand its ChatGPT advertising business in the country on the back of its broad user base. OpenAI's advertising service reached an annualized revenue of $1 billion (about 1.34 trillion won) within 200 days of its global launch. In Korea, the service was introduced in June this year and currently shows ads to some users on free and lower-priced plans, including Go. "Since last month, the advertising sales team at our Korean office has begun building a partner ecosystem through meetings with domestic brands," Kim said. "We will take a balanced approach so that we can protect user privacy while providing a service that satisfies advertisers."
