[ESG Management Column] Samsung and OpenAI's Alliance, Opening the 'Sustainable AI' Era Beyond AI

[ESG Management Column] Samsung and OpenAI's Alliance, Opening the Era of 'Sustainable AI' Beyond AI

Writer: Choi Bong-hyeok, ESG Columnist ㅣ Standing Vice President of the Society for Sustainable Science

The signing ceremony of the Letter of Intent (LOI) between Samsung and OpenAI held at Samsung's Seocho headquarters on the 1st signifies more than just the announcement of a technological alliance. It is a concrete response to the 'growth dilemma' faced by artificial intelligence (AI), the most powerful technology of this century, and a historic turning point presenting a new blueprint for ESG management. Behind the vast potential of AI lies the shadow of astronomical energy consumption. This alliance is a bold declaration to remove that shadow and open a new paradigm of 'sustainable AI'.

The AI Dilemma - How Innovation Swallows Energy

AI technology, especially the learning and inference of ultra-large AI models led by OpenAI, requires a massive amount of computing resources. This in turn leads to enormous power consumption. Gartner, a global consulting firm, warned that AI will account for a significant portion of global electricity consumption by 2025, and predicted that the environmental burden of AI will emerge as a core ESG risk for companies. The construction of planet-scale computing infrastructure, like OpenAI's 'Stargate' project, clearly demonstrates this dilemma. The paradox that the environmental burden on Earth increases as innovation accelerates, this is the most urgent task that the AI era must solve.

Basis and Logic - Finding ESG Solutions through Technological Convergence

The cooperation between Samsung and OpenAI is noteworthy in that it attempts to directly confront this issue. This is because they are drawing up a concrete roadmap to solve the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues of AI by organically combining the capabilities of each company.

Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics (left) and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (right), are shaking hands at the ‘Signing Ceremony of the LOI (Letter of Intent) for Mutual Cooperation to Build Global AI Core Infrastructure’
Environment (E) - Innovation of Low-Power Semiconductors and 'Offshore Data Centers'

The most noticeable is the solution in the environmental (E) field. Samsung Electronics supplies high-performance, low-power memory semiconductors to OpenAI. This plays a key role in directly improving the energy efficiency of data centers, reducing the power consumption and carbon emissions required for AI calculations. Considering energy efficiency from the chip stage is the most fundamental principle of ‘Green AI’.

Furthermore, 'Floating Data Centers' promoted by Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries could become a 'game changer' for ESG management. This is a concept that goes a step further than Microsoft's 'Project Natick', which was tested in the Scottish seabed. Project Natick proved that the server failure rate of underwater data centers is only one-eighth of that on land, and that cooling efficiency using natural seawater is very high. Floating data centers go further, overcoming the limitations of land space and significantly reducing cooling costs and carbon emissions by utilizing cold seawater. This is an innovative alternative that minimizes the burden of AI infrastructure on the environment.

Social (S) and Governance (G) - AI Sovereignty and Responsible Governance

From a social (S) perspective, this cooperation is significant in that it has laid the foundation for South Korea to leap from the periphery of AI technology to a core player. As Samsung SDS supplies OpenAI's enterprise services in Korea and provides technical support, domestic companies can more easily utilize global-level AI technology and increase their competitiveness. This leads to social value by revitalizing the domestic AI ecosystem, nurturing related talent, and creating quality jobs.

Professor Fei-Fei Li of Stanford's Human-Centered AI Institute (HAI) emphasized that "the democratization of AI technology is an important key to unleashing the innovative potential of the entire society." This cooperation will be the first step in realizing that 'AI technology democratization' in Korea. In addition, the comprehensive cooperation system in which four Samsung affiliates participate is a model case of responsible governance (G) that proactively responds to the great transformation of AI.

Starting a Great Voyage Towards 'Good AI'

The partnership between Samsung and OpenAI aims for a new goal of 'building AI infrastructure for sustainability,' beyond 'building infrastructure for AI.' This is an alliance that goes beyond simple technology cooperation and shares a technological philosophy for the future of humanity.

In the future, the success of both companies will not only depend on how fast and powerful AI they create. How much they improve energy efficiency, reduce their carbon footprint, and spread positive impacts on society in the process should become a new measure of success. We hope that this great voyage will become a milestone that presents the standard of 'good AI' to the global industry, beyond South Korea.

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Standing Vice President of the Society for Sustainable Science

Expert on improving disability awareness education in the workplace

Editor of the esg (the esg) News

Director of the Korean Public Procurement Academic Society,

Director of the Korea Press Information Technology Association

Essay debut at the International Literary Association

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