OpenAI on Thursday outlined its blueprint for deeper engagement with South Korea, proposing a “two-track” approach that combines national AI infrastructure—or “sovereign AI”— with international cooperation.

In a report titled “Artificial Intelligence in Korea: OpenAI’s Economic Blueprint,” the company said Korea could strengthen its global competitiveness by pairing independent computing infrastructure and data governance with partnerships involving frontier AI developers.

Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, said Korea’s strengths in semiconductors, digital infrastructure, talent and government support position it to play a leading role in the next industrial revolution.

Lehane noted that Seoul ranks first globally in usage of OpenAI’s video model Sora and that the service's Korean weekly active users have quadrupled to 17 million in the past year.

He added that while OpenAI is not directly involved in the government’s AI computing center project, it remains open to collaboration through initiatives like Stargate Korea, a public-private framework for AI infrastructure.

OpenAI projected that 2025 will mark the beginning of “agentic AI,” followed by expansions into the medical and robotics fields by 2026 and 2027, positioning Korea as a hub of the global AI ecosystem.