Samsung will collaborate with OpenAI to develop floating data centers and power plants as Sam Altman rushes to compete with his firm’s own partners
- OpenAI and Samsung sign letter of intent for sweeping AI partnership
- Agreement includes memory supply, data centers, and floating power infrastructure
- OpenAI seeks independence from hyperscalers as rivals expand global infrastructure
OpenAI and Samsung and have signed a letter of intent for a sweeping partnership that spans semiconductors, data centers, shipbuilding, cloud services, and maritime technologies.
The announcement was made at a ceremony in Seoul attended by senior leaders from across Samsung’s electronics, shipbuilding, construction, and IT services businesses.
The agreement states that Samsung Electronics will act as a strategic memory partner for OpenAI’s Project Stargate initiative, which aims to build out masses of new AI infrastructure.
Floating data centers
OpenAI has projected its memory demand could reach 900,000 DRAM wafers per month, and Samsung will supply high-performance, energy-efficient memory solutions to meet the requirement.
Samsung SDS will work with OpenAI to design, develop, and operate AI data centers and provide enterprise AI services.
It will also act as a reseller of OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise in Korea, supporting adoption by local businesses.
Samsung Heavy Industries and Samsung C&T will collaborate with OpenAI on floating data centers, with possible expansion into floating power plants and control centers.
“Floating data centers… can address land scarcity, lower cooling costs and reduce carbon emissions,” the companies said in their letter of intent.
As The Stack notes, floating data centers remain rare, but interest is growing. The Stockton project in California has been running since 2021, Japanese firms and Yokohama city are planning a solar- and battery-powered design, and in June 2025, the American Bureau of Shipping and Herbert Engineering proposed a nuclear-powered floating data center concept.
The announcement comes a matter of days after we revealed Nvidia had poured $100 billion into OpenAI (to spend on Nvidia’s own chips, naturally), and suggests the ChatGPT creator is looking to reduce its dependence on hyperscaler partners such as Microsoft.
With AI rivals like Meta and Google rapidly expanding their own infrastructure, there is growing pressure on OpenAI to establish itself as a large-scale operator in its own right.
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OpenAI and Samsung sign letter of intent for sweeping AI partnership Agreement includes memory supply, data centers, and floating power infrastructure OpenAI seeks independence from hyperscalers as rivals expand global infrastructure OpenAI and Samsung and have signed a letter of intent for a sweeping partnership that spans semiconductors, data centers,…
