On Oct. 31, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met about 50 Samsung affiliate presidents at the Samsung Human Resources Development Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi. His gift was a small keyboard built for the Codex coding agent: the Codex Micro.
About 50 presidents in one room
Samsung said the session was part of its AI-transformation training for presidents. The topic was 'The next decade AI will change: a company's choice', with leaders from Samsung Electronics and its electronics, finance and bio affiliates attending, including Jun Young-hyun and Roh Tae-moon.
OpenAI sent its hardware VP, its Asia-Pacific and Japan head and other executives with Altman.
"Using AI alone is no edge"
Altman said that simply using AI will not give a lasting advantage. It depends on how fast you move and how much better a product you build with it.
The presidents also did hands-on generative-AI training beforehand, the second such session after June. Samsung aims to finish AI training for all employees by next February.
What the $230 keyboard is
The Codex Micro was co-designed by OpenAI and keyboard maker Work Louder. MBN reports 13 mechanical switches, a rotary dial, a joystick and a touch sensor, plus a display of the AI's work status. The listed price is 230 US dollars, about 307,000 won.
Altman said the idea behind it is that a world of talking to computers may not need a whole keyboard.
Samsung and OpenAI already go back a year
The two signed a letter of intent on AI infrastructure last October, including memory chips for the Stargate project, and chairman Lee Jae-yong visited OpenAI's San Francisco headquarters in July. OpenAI said this meeting widened the talks from infrastructure to AI use across the group.
