[Exclusive] Samsung executives pledge sweeping AI transformation in handwritten messages after meeting Altman ... [OpenAI courts Samsung]

“Let’s make artificial intelligence (AI) our new way of working and redefine the fundamental competitiveness of semiconductors.” (Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics)
“Through innovation in AI transformation (AX), we will become an AI-native company that proactively responds to rapidly changing global markets and consumers.” (Roh Tae-moon, president of Samsung Electronics)
Following a meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, key Samsung Group executives, including Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman and head of Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions (DS) Division, and Roh Tae-moon, president and head of its Device eXperience (DX) Division, renewed their commitment to a sweeping AI transformation. The plan is to strengthen business competitiveness across the group, from semiconductors and finished products to finance and biotech, with AI at the center, while also overhauling existing work practices and organizational systems. With executives personally expressing their resolve to change in handwritten messages, groupwide AX is also expected to gather pace.
On the 11th, Financial News exclusively obtained handwritten messages from the presidents of key Samsung Group affiliates. The messages were written after a roundtable to which CEO Altman was invited, held on the 31st of last month at the Samsung Human Resources Development Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and Samsung displayed them outside its AI training center for executives. About 50 presidents of Samsung affiliates in electronics, finance, biotech and other sectors attended the meeting. The messages on display conveyed executives’ determination to make AI a key factor in corporate competitiveness, rather than merely a tool for improving work efficiency. Vice Chairman Jun, who heads Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business, and President Roh, who oversees its finished-products division, both identified an AI-centered transformation as a key priority.
Executives at other major affiliates besides Samsung Electronics also expressed their commitment to AI innovation.
Samsung Display President Chung Yi pledged, “We will lead in top-tier display technology and secure competitiveness by innovating our AI-based work culture.” Samsung SDI President Choi Joo-sun left the message, “Let’s boldly ride the big wave of change brought by agentic AI.” Samsung Electro-Mechanics President Jang Deok-hyun emphasized the urgency of change, saying, “Without AX, there is no future; AX without tangible results is meaningless. AX that comes too late has no competitive edge.”
The handwritten messages are notable because they were written immediately after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called on Samsung’s presidents to pursue AI-centered management innovation. At the meeting, Altman said, “In three to five years, it will be impossible to maintain competitiveness without an AI foundation,” urging executives to make bold decisions. He also stressed that organizations must be restructured so AI leads the entire process of developing new businesses and products, rather than stopping at boosting employee productivity.
[email protected] Reporters Lim Su-bin, Park Ji-yeon and Park So-hyeon

[email protected] Lim Su-bin, Park So-hyeon, Park Ji-yeon Reporter