OpenAI "ChatGPT already widely used at work… Full-scale push into South Korea B2B market"

Acceleration of domestic B2B market push

Domestic users increasing ChatGPT use for work

Two pillars: Enterprise and API

"Channel partner agreement with Samsung SDS this month"

OpenAI, the operator of ChatGPT, the No.1 generative AI application (app) in South Korea, has turned its attention to the business-to-business (B2B) market. It focused on the ways domestic users differ from overseas users in their use of ChatGPT. OpenAI expects synergy with Korean companies in AX (AI transformation) projects, noting that Korean users often use ChatGPT for work.

Kim Gyeong-hun, Head of OpenAI Korea, said at a press briefing held at the Westin Chosun Seoul on the 4th, "Users in this country use ChatGPT as a work partner more than in any other country. Korea is a country that uses AI well to improve productivity." According to OpenAI, 28.5% of Korean users used ChatGPT for document work and communication. Practical advice accounted for 21.4%, and task-specific information retrieval accounted for 15.6%. By contrast, global users mainly used ChatGPT to ask for practical advice (28.8%).

This is also why OpenAI is reorganizing its domestic market strategy to focus on B2B. OpenAI believes that if individuals frequently use AI at work, companies will also actively adopt AX to improve work efficiency.

Kim said, "You cannot talk about maximizing the effects of AI technology without mentioning the role of companies," adding, "Above all, companies work based on return on investment (ROI), and that is a good stimulus for us. It makes us strive to provide greater value, and when we deliver such value, companies invest more, creating a virtuous cycle."

"Targeting the B2B market with two approaches: bottom-up and top-down"

OpenAI's domestic B2B market strategy is broadly divided into two approaches: a bottom-up method using ChatGPT Enterprise and a top-down method based on OpenAI's application programming interface (API).

A representative bottom-up case is GS Engineering & Construction. GS E&C was one of the fastest companies in Korea to adopt ChatGPT Enterprise. Not only the adoption speed but also the spread of ChatGPT usage within the company was rapid. Daily active users (DAU) of ChatGPT within GS E&C reached 94%, and monthly active users (MAU) reached 99%.

Seo A-ran, Head of DX/CX Innovation at GS E&C (Executive Director), said, "We are seeing the most meaningful changes on-site," adding, "A site manager in his 50s directly used ChatGPT to code and sketched an app screen for issuing work instructions on site. I felt that even non-developers can very easily create prototypes using ChatGPT." She added, "We are sharing these good cases with internal users. The example of treating AI like a colleague and normalizing it in daily work was most impressive."

LG Uplus used OpenAI's API to develop an AI contact center (AICC). This is the first case in the domestic telecom industry of developing an AICC based on agentic AI. Kim said, "The top-down approach is used when companies want to have definite solutions that can create competitive advantages."

Jeong Young-hoon, Executive Director in charge of corporate AI business at LG Uplus, said, "Even though we had experience building an AICC based on ExaOne, we examined adopting OpenAI's technology and developing a product because of the multi-engine capability," adding, "We judged that multi-engine technology is a more evolved technology and that adopting it could provide a highly differentiated customer experience."

Jeong added, "If we assume a situation where a patient needs to change an appointment, existing AI callbots only provide guidance about previous appointment information. But the AICC implemented with OpenAI can be linked to the electronic medical record and systems to not only change appointments but also deliver subsequent feedback via messaging or notification messages, evolving into a complete consultation service."

"B2C strength is a differentiator compared to competitors"

OpenAI cited business-to-consumer (B2C) strength as a differentiator compared to competitors such as Google Gemini. Kim said, "As a leading company, we think it's more important to continue doing what we do well rather than forcefully changing to differentiate. Ultimately, the reason ChatGPT Enterprise has succeeded in companies is because employees were already using ChatGPT well," adding, "We see B2C as the most important differentiator. Although many of our personnel in Korea are assigned to B2B, we are not neglecting B2C."

According to WiseApp·Retail, ChatGPT is ranked as the most used generative AI app in Korea. Last month, ChatGPT's MAU was 21.62 million, overwhelmingly more domestic users. The number of app users has continued to grow even after surpassing 20 million users in August.

By contrast, Gemini, which is aggressively chasing ChatGPT, remains stagnant in the domestic B2C market. Gemini's MAU last month was 420,000, the same as in October.

Kim said, "Korea has infrastructure including the internet and many people with good devices, so people of all ages are familiar with digital technology," adding, "Korea has the highest ratio of paid users per capita in the world. Competitors continue to release new things, but fortunately users love our product."

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, felt a sense of crisis that ChatGPT's technology was being caught up by Gemini and internally declared a 'code red' emergency response. Kim said about this, "Many employees think the code red has become a good motivation," but added, "The Korea team hasn't changed much. We continue to work hard and keep trying to reach more companies."

He declined to disclose investment plans and amounts related to the Stargate project being promoted with Samsung and SK. Kim said, "We are proceeding by securing infrastructure around the world. Since OpenAI is not yet a big tech company, we are working with large companies such as Oracle and SoftBank."

He also detailed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Samsung. Under the MOU, Samsung SDS will take on the role of distributing ChatGPT Enterprise across the Samsung Group. Kim said, "Samsung SDS will be the first official channel partner. The contract will be finalized within this month and announced officially," adding, "Channel partners will increase, and we will learn of a few more early next year."

Park Subin, Hankyung.com reporter waterbean@hankyung.com