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After China announced retaliatory tariffs against the United States, walkers along Shanghai’s waterfront were stoic Tuesday in face of both the cold and the prospect of an escalating trade war.The tariffs on US energy, vehicles and equipment were unveiled minutes after additional levies on Chinese goods announced Saturday by US President Donald Trump came into effect.Tariffs on a wider range of goods were announced by Chinese authorities on Tuesday. Trump’s move was the latest in a trade confrontation between the global superpowers that started eight years ago, in his first term.Out for a stroll on the last day of China’s Lunar New Year holiday, many who talked to AFP seemed largely unfazed by the news. “Now with the regular trade war, such as the restrictions on semiconductors, I think it is good (for China),” said a 48-year-old man surnamed Nian. “We will be autonomous — we will be better,” he said, using the example of Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, which made headlines recently with a chatbot which can match its American competitors seemingly at a fraction of the cost.US export controls on high-tech chips may have inadvertently fuelled its success, analysts have said, spurring the firm to develop clever ways to overcome them.Nian said that the Chinese economy could weather the stormy relationship with Washington.- ‘Lives basically unaffected’ -“People’s lives are basically unaffected, and the domestic demand of so many people (in China) is completely enough,” he said. The government has been trying to boost domestic consumption, which has remained stubbornly sluggish post-Covid, dragging on growth. Staring across the similarly slow-moving grey waters of the Huangpu river, 36-year-old Zhou said he thought most Chinese were nevertheless “relatively confident” about the economy long-term. But “when there is this type of trade war… the most fundamental harm is actually to the interests of normal people”, he warned, gesturing to his iPhone as an example of a product he said could be affected eventually. He said he harboured no ill will towards Trump, seeing the confrontation between the world’s two largest economies as “healthy competition”. “The leaders of every country are just defending their own interests,” he told AFP. Sitting beside her livestreaming equipment on a bench, 42-year-old Karen Zhang said she was concerned tariffs would have an impact on life for those living in China’s big international cities. However, she said Beijing was right to retaliate.  “I think overall this is definitely not a good thing, but China also has no choice,” she said. “The United States has been carrying out some very severe measures and policies against China. So China has to fight back… we can’t let them casually bully us,” she said. Her view was echoed by Nian.  “I think we should take countermeasures,” he said. “We should be a bit more ruthless.”

Stock markets mostly rebounded and there strong gains for Mexico’s peso and Canada’s dollar Tuesday after Donald Trump said he would delay tariffs on imports from the US neighbours.It did little to soothe trade war worries, however, as Beijing announced levies on some imports of US goods in retaliation for tariffs on items arriving from China. Oil prices retreated as Beijing’s levies targeted US hydrocarbons. Gold, a safe haven asset, traded close to recent record highs. Investors also tracked mixed earnings from major companies — including alcoholic drinks giant Diageo, which scrapped a key performance target as it predicts sales of tequila and Canadian whisky in main market the United States to be hit by the tariffs.”Markets have shown some nervousness around the prospect of a trade war, yet it doesn’t look like we’re going to have another truly miserable day,” noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.”Equity indices were only slightly down in Europe, pockets of Asia rallied sharply, while futures prices imply a fairly quiet day on Wall Street.”Markets from Japan to New York were sent tumbling Monday after news at the weekend that Trump had signed off 25 percent duties against Mexico and Canada, fanning concerns for the stuttering global economy.Hours before the tariffs were due to kick in, Trump said he would postpone the measures until March.China, Canada and Mexico are the United States’ three biggest trading partners.”A risk is that this is the beginning of a tit-for-tat trade war, which could result in lower GDP growth everywhere, higher US inflation, a stronger dollar and upside pressure on US interest rates,” said Stephen Dover, chief market strategist and head of Franklin Templeton Institute.”At the margin, these tariffs should encourage more domestic production of goods in the United States.”However, the uncertainty surrounding the permanence of these tariffs makes it challenging for companies to make informed capital investment decisions,” he added.Trump has warned that the European Union would be next in the firing line and has not ruled out tariffs against Britain.The volatile start to February on markets follows their rollercoaster ride last week after China’s DeepSeek unveiled a cheaper artificial intelligence model rivalling those of US tech giants, sparking questions over the vast sums invested in the sector in recent years.”One thing we can say for sure. Markets are going to remain subject to massive headline risk in coming hours… days… and years,” forecast Ray Attrill, foreign currency strategist at National Australia Bank.- Key figures around 1040 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,562.21 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,875.83Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 21,446.01Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 38,798.37 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.8 percent at 20,789.96 (close)Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,421.91 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0342 from $1.0302 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2434 from $1.2407Dollar/yen: UP at 155.31 yen from 154.80 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.18 pence from 83.03 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $71.87 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $75.10 per barrel

China has made good on its threats to retaliate in the escalating trade war with the United States, imposing tariffs on American imports of energy, cars and machinery parts. That came just minutes after a 10 percent tariff hike on Chinese goods, announced by US President Donald Trump on Saturday, came into effect.Here’s the state of play in the rocky US-China trade relationship:- How much trade is at stake? -Trade between China and the United States, the world’s two largest economies, is vast, totalling more than $530 billion in 2024.Sales of Chinese goods to the United States over the same period totalled more than $400 billion, second only to Mexico.China is the dominant supplier of goods from electronics and electrical machinery to textiles and clothing, according to the Peterson Institute of International Economics (PIIE). But a yawning trade imbalance — $270.4 billion last year — has long raised hackles in Washington.So has China’s vast state support for its industries, sparking accusations of dumping, as well as its perceived mistreatment of US firms operating in its territory.China’s economy remains heavily reliant on exports to drive growth despite official efforts to raise domestic consumption, making its leaders reluctant to change the status quo.- What happened during Trump’s first term? -Trump stormed into the White House for his first term in 2016 vowing to get even with China, launching a trade war that imposed significant tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods.China responded with retaliatory tariffs on US products that particularly affected American farmers.Key US demands were greater access to China’s markets, broad reform of a business playing field that heavily favours Chinese firms, and a loosening of heavy state control by Beijing.After long, fraught negotiations the two sides agreed what became known as the “phase one” trade deal — a ceasefire in the nearly two-year trade war.Beijing agreed under that agreement to import $200 billion worth of US goods, including $32 billion in farm products and seafood.However, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and a US recession, analysts say Beijing fell well short of that commitment.”In the end, China bought only 58 percent of the US exports it had committed to purchase under the agreement, not even enough to reach its import levels from before the trade war,” the PIIE’s Chad P Brown wrote.- How did things change under Biden? -Joe Biden, whose presidency was bookended by Trump’s two terms in office, did not roll back the increases imposed by the Republican but took a more targeted approach when it came to tariff hikes.Under Biden, Washington expanded efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, part of a broader effort to prevent sensitive US technologies being used in Beijing’s military arsenal.His administration also used tariffs to take aim at what it called China’s “industrial overcapacity” — fears the country’s industrial subsidies for green energy, cars and batteries could flood global markets with cheap goods.Biden ordered tariffs last May on $18 billion worth of imports from China, accusing Beijing of “cheating” rather than competing.Under the hikes, tariffs on electric vehicles quadrupled to 100 percent, while the tariff for semiconductors surged from 25 percent to 50 percent.- What happens next? – Beijing’s new tariffs will come into effect on Monday.Tariffs of 15 percent will be imposed on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States.Crude oil, agricultural machinery, big-engined vehicles and pickup trucks face 10 percent duties.China is a major market for US energy exports and, according to Beijing customs data, imports of oil, coal and LNG totalled more than $7 billion last year.By following through with the levies, Trump has shown tariff threats were serious and not an opening gambit in negotiations.The mercurial magnate has also tied tariffs to the fate of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok — warning of retaliation if a deal cannot be struck to sell it.Trump has ordered an in-depth review of Chinese trade practices, the results of which are due by April 1.Analysts say that could serve as a “catalyst” for even more tariffs on Chinese imports.However, the strong riposte has left little doubt that Beijing will push back against measures it has long viewed as unfair.China said on Tuesday it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the “malicious” levies, although that is unlikely to bring change in the short term.Separately, its State Administration for Market Regulation announced a probe into US tech giant Google over violations of anti-monopoly laws.

Asian equities rose with the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar Tuesday after Donald Trump said he would delay the imposition of stiff tariffs on imports from the US neighbours, soothing trade war worries for now.But early euphoria was tempered after China announced levies on some imports of US goods as Washington’s measures kicked in, with no news that the two sides had reached an agreement to pause.Markets from Japan to New York were sent tumbling Monday after news at the weekend that Trump had signed off 25 percent duties against Mexico and Canada, fanning concerns for the stuttering global economy.Hours before the tariffs were due to take effect, Trump said he had struck deals with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on immigration and fentanyl, and would postpone the measures for a month.Talks on final deals would continue with both countries, he added.The tycoon added that he would hold talks with Beijing “probably in the next 24 hours” to avoid new 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports.However, with the deadline for the tariffs passing at 0500 GMT, China unveiled tariffs on a range of US goods, including crude, coal, liquefied natural gas, agricultural machinery, large-engined vehicles and pickup trucks.Beijing also said it would file a complaint with the WTO and announced a probe into tech giant Google as well as adding US fashion group PVH Corp. — which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein — and biotech giant Illumina to a list of “unreliable entities”.China, Canada and Mexico are the United States’ three biggest trading partners and had warned they would retaliate.News of the deals with Mexico and Canada saw the Mexican peso surge more than three percent — having tumbled to a three-year low on Monday — before paring the gains slightly. The Canadian dollar jumped more than one percent.Asian stock markets also advanced, though unease about the lack of movement on averting the Chinese tariffs saw traders’ pare some of the morning’s gains.Hong Kong, which rose more than three percent in the morning, was up more than two percent, with analysts saying the measures so far would not have a major impact on China’s economy.Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, Sydney, Mumbai, Bangkok, Wellington and Taipei were also in the green. Sydney and Singapore edged down.London slipped at the open while Paris and Frankfurt were higher.The euro and British pound remained under pressure after Trump warned the European Union would be next in the firing line, while he did not rule out tariffs against Britain.”A risk is that this is the beginning of a tit-for-tat trade war, which could result in lower GDP growth everywhere, higher US inflation, a stronger dollar and upside pressure on US interest rates,” said Stephen Dover, chief market strategist and head of Franklin Templeton Institute.”At the margin, these tariffs should encourage more domestic production of goods in the United States. However, the uncertainty surrounding the permanence of these tariffs makes it challenging for companies to make informed capital investment decisions.”The volatile start to February on markets follows their rollercoaster ride last week after China’s DeepSeek unveiled a cheaper artificial intelligence model rivalling those of US tech giants, sparking questions over the vast sums invested in the sector in recent years.”One thing we can say for sure. Markets are going to remain subject to massive headline risk in coming hours… days… and years,” Ray Attrill at National Australia Bank warned.Gold spot prices held gains after spiking to a new record high of $2,830.74 on Monday, having retreated from last week’s all-time peak owing to the stronger dollar and as traders sought out the metal as a safe haven from uncertainty.- Key figures around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 38,798.37 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.8 percent at 20,789.96 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,570.88Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0316 from $1.0302 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2420 from $1.2407Dollar/yen: UP at 155.27 yen from 154.80 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.06 pence from 83.03 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.7 percent at $71.92 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $75.20 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,421.91 (close)

Two Panamanian lawyers filed a complaint Monday to cancel the concession of a Hong Kong-based company for operating two ports on the Panama Canal, following US President Donald Trump’s threats to seize the vital waterway.A subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings — owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing — manages two of the canal’s five ports, an arrangement in place since 1997 via a concession from the Panama government. But Norman Castro, one of the lawyers in the case brought before the Supreme Court, told reporters the contract “violates what the constitution says in about 10 articles.” “After a detailed analysis of the contract… we decided that an action for unconstitutionality was the appropriate means” to challenge the concession, said Julio Macias, another lawyer behind the suit.The complaint also accuses the Hong Kong subsidiary of not paying taxes and benefits due to a series of advantages that are allegedly against the law. Panama Ports Company — a CK Hutchison Holdings subsidiary — currently manages the ports of Cristobal on the canal’s Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side. That arrangement was automatically renewed in 2021 for another 25 years. The case comes after Trump threatened to take back the canal — built by the United States and handed to Panama in 1999 — as he said China was effectively “operating” it. But temperatures have lowered since Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to the Central American country, with Panama President Jose Raul Mulino announcing they will not renew participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Following Trump’s charges, Panama also announced an audit into the company. CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

OpenAI chief Sam Altman signed a deal with tech giant Kakao in South Korea on Tuesday as the US firm seeks new alliances after Chinese rival DeepSeek shook the global AI industry.Kakao, which owns an online bank, South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing app, and a messaging service, announced a partnership allowing them to use ChatGPT for its new artificial intelligence services, joining a global alliance led by OpenAI amid intensifying competition in the sector.”We’re excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao’s millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao’s users communicate and connect,” said Altman.”Kakao has a deep understanding of how technology can enrich everyday lives,” he added.Kakao’s CEO Shina Chung said the company was “thrilled” to establish a strategic collaboration with OpenAI.Altman’s company is part of the Stargate drive announced by US President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States.But AI newcomer DeepSeek has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with some calling its high performance and supposed low cost a wake-up call for US developers.”Highly Aware”At a closed meeting with South Korean AI developers, Altman admitted OpenAI “hasn’t found a strategy yet” to respond to DeepSeek. When asked by an executive of Wrtn Technologies — a Seoul-based AI firm — about his plans for addressing the rise of open-source models such as DeepSeek, Altman said there is “definitely room for open source”.”We haven’t figured out a strategy yet, but we want to do more,” he added. Altman seems “quite nervous internally but it appears OpenAI is indeed highly aware of, and influenced by, DeepSeek’s impact”, said Kim Jang-hyun, a data science Professor at Sungkyunkwan University.. “With South Korea being a country known for its high loyalty, frequent usage, and tech-savvy user base,” OpenAI might use the country as “a testing ground before expanding globally”, Kim told AFP. Also on Altman’s agenda were meetings with two top South Korean chipmakers, Samsung and SK hynix, both key suppliers of advanced semiconductors used in AI servers.Altman met with SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung in Seoul to discuss collaboration on AI memory chips, including high bandwidth memory (HBM), and AI services.He is also expected to meet with Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong later Tuesday. Jaejune Kim, executive vice president of Samsung’s memory business, said last week that the company was “monitoring industry trends considering various scenarios” when asked about DeepSeek.DeepSeek’s performance has sparked a wave of accusations that it has reverse-engineered the capabilities of leading US technology.OpenAI warned last week that Chinese companies are actively attempting to replicate its advanced AI models, prompting closer cooperation with US authorities.OpenAI says rivals are using a process known as distillation in which developers creating smaller models learn from larger ones by copying their behaviour and decision-making patterns — similar to a student learning from a teacher.The company is itself facing multiple accusations of intellectual property violations, primarily related to the use of copyrighted materials in training its generative AI models.

Japanese video game giant Nintendo on Tuesday cut its annual net profit forecast after hardware and software sales for its Switch console fell in the first three quarters.The Switch, which is both a handheld and TV-compatible device, hit shelves in 2017 and became a must-have gadget among all age groups during pandemic lockdowns.Nintendo announced in January that it will release the console’s hotly anticipated successor — the Switch 2 — in 2025, but stopped short of revealing details such as pricing.On Tuesday, Nintendo revised its full-year net profit forecast to 270 billion yen ($1.7 billion) from 300 billion yen.”Nintendo Switch hardware and software sales through the third quarter were below expectations,” the company said in its explanation of the profit warning.”The sales trend” in the April-December period and “prospects for the remainder of the fiscal year, as well as a reevaluation of the assumed exchange rate” were also behind the decision.Over the nine months, net profit dropped 42 percent to 237 billion yen and sales tumbled 31 percent to 956 billion yen.The company also lowered its Switch hardware sales forecast to 11 million units from 12.5 million units.”Sales of both hardware and software declined compared to the same period of last fiscal year, when sales were substantially driven by ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’… and ‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder’,” Nintendo said.”Going forward, we will continue to release new offerings so even more consumers keep playing Nintendo Switch,” it added.Nintendo has promised to reveal more details about the Switch 2 in early April after it released a brief but slick video preview in January.In the two-minute video, the new console looks bigger but is broadly similar in design to the original hybrid Switch.Serkan Toto from Tokyo consultancy Kantan Games told AFP ahead of the earnings release that “Nintendo was way too optimistic about Switch 1 sales when they released their hardware sales forecast for the current fiscal year.”Toto said that while “the initial reaction by gamers was mixed” to the “drip feed” Switch 2 announcement, the popularity of the new console would be key.”Switch 2 absolutely must be a success, as Nintendo has developed into a single-platform company, he said.”For decades, Nintendo actually ran two distinct businesses, namely TV versus handheld gaming,” but now “Nintendo has no Plan B in case a console fails”.

China on Tuesday said it would probe US tech giant Google over violations of anti-monopoly laws after Washington slapped 10 percent levies on Chinese goods.Beijing’s State Administration for Market Regulation said the US tech giant was “suspected of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China”.It has “launched an investigation into Google in accordance with the law” as a result, the administration said in a statement.It did not provide further details about the allegations against Google.The US tech behemoth’s core search engine and many of its services are blocked in mainland China, where US internet titans have long struggled with doing business due to the “Great Firewall” that blocks politically sensitive content.Google in 2011 abandoned its Chinese-language search engine in the mainland and transferred it to Hong Kong.By 2014, China blocked the last remaining way to access Google’s email service Gmail.Beijing also said Tuesday it would add US fashion group PVH Corp. — which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein — and biotech giant Illumina to a list of “unreliable entities”.The move would “safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, in accordance with relevant laws”, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement.”The above two entities violate normal market transaction principles, interrupt normal transactions with Chinese enterprises, and take discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises,” it added.China in September said it was investigating PVH for an “unreasonable” boycott of cotton from its Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of widespread rights violations.AFP has reached out to all three firms for comment.The United States on Saturday announced sweeping measures against major trade partners, with goods from China facing an additional 10 percent tariff on top of existing duties.Trump said the measures aimed to punish countries for failing to halt flows of illegal migrants and drugs including fentanyl into the United States.

Asian equities rose with the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar Tuesday after Donald Trump said he would delay the imposition of stiff tariffs on imports from the US neighbours, soothing trade war worries for now.But early euphoria was tempered somewhat after China announced levies on some imports of US goods as Washington’s measures kicked in, with no news that the two sides had reached an agreement to pause.Markets from Japan to New York were sent tumbling Monday after news at the weekend that Trump had signed off 25 percent duties against Mexico and Canada, fanning concerns for the stuttering global economy.Hours before the tariffs were due to take effect, Trump said he had struck deals with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on immigration and fentanyl, and would postpone the measures for a month.Talks on final deals would continue with both countries, he added.The tycoon added that he would hold talks with Beijing “probably in the next 24 hours” to avoid new 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports.However, with the deadline for the tariffs passing at 0500 GMT, China unveiled tariffs on a range of US goods, including crude, coal, liquefied natural gas, agricultural machinery, large-displacement vehicles and pickup trucks.China, Canada and Mexico are the United States’ three biggest trading partners and had warned they would retaliate.News of the deals with Mexico and Canada saw the Mexican peso surge more than three percent — having tumbled to a three-year low on Monday — before paring the gains slightly. The Canadian dollar jumped more than one percent.Asian stock markets also advanced, though unease about the lack of movement on the Chinese tariffs saw traders’ early optimism fade.Hong Kong, which rose more than three percent in the morning, was up more than one percent, while Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, Sydney, Mumbai, Bangkok, Wellington and Taipei were also in the green.The euro and British pound extended losses after Trump warned the European Union would be next in the firing line, while he did not rule out tariffs against Britain.”A risk is that this is the beginning of a tit-for-tat trade war, which could result in lower GDP growth everywhere, higher US inflation, a stronger dollar and upside pressure on US interest rates,” said Stephen Dover, chief market strategist and head of Franklin Templeton Institute.”At the margin, these tariffs should encourage more domestic production of goods in the United States.  However, the uncertainty surrounding the permanence of these tariffs makes it challenging for companies to make informed capital investment decisions.”The volatile start to February on markets follows their rollercoaster ride last week after China’s DeepSeek unveiled a cheaper artificial intelligence model rivalling those of US tech giants, sparking questions over the vast sums invested in the sector in recent years.”One thing we can say for sure. Markets are going to remain subject to massive headline risk in coming hours… days… and years,” Ray Attrill at National Australia Bank warned.Gold spot prices held gains after spiking to a new record high of $2,830.74 on Monday, having retreated from last week’s all-time peak owing to the stronger dollar and as traders sought out the metal as a safe haven from uncertainty.- Key figures around 0530 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 38,796.51Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 20,533.16 Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0290 from $1.0302 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2390 from $1.2407Dollar/yen: UP at 155.08 yen from 154.80 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.00 pence from 83.03 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.6 percent at $72.00 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $75.21 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,421.91 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.0 percent at 8,583.56 (close)

OpenAI chief Sam Altman inked a deal with tech giant Kakao in South Korea on Tuesday as the US firm seeks new alliances after Chinese rival DeepSeek shook the global AI industry.Kakao, which owns an online bank, South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing app and KakaoTalk, announced a partnership allowing them to use ChatGPT for its new artificial intelligence services, joining a global alliance led by OpenAI amid intensifying competition in the sector.Altman’s company is part of the Stargate drive announced by US President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States.But AI newcomer DeepSeek has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with some calling its high performance and supposed low cost a wake-up call for US developers.”We’re excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao’s millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao’s users communicate and connect,” said Altman.”Kakao has a deep understanding of how technology can enrich everyday lives,” he added.Kakao’s CEO Shina Chung said the company was “thrilled” to establish a “strategic collaboration” with OpenAI.Also on Altman’s agenda were meetings with two top South Korean chipmakers, Samsung and SK hynix, both key suppliers of advanced semiconductors used in AI servers.Altman met with SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung in Seoul to discuss collaboration on AI memory chips, including high bandwidth memory (HBM), and AI services.He is also expected to meet with Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong later Tuesday. Jaejune Kim, executive vice president of Samsung’s memory business, said last week that the company was “monitoring industry trends considering various scenarios” when asked about DeepSeek.DeepSeek’s performance has sparked a wave of accusations that it has reverse-engineered the capabilities of leading US technology, such as the AI powering ChatGPT.OpenAI warned last week that Chinese companies are actively attempting to replicate its advanced AI models, prompting closer cooperation with US authorities.OpenAI says rivals are using a process known as distillation in which developers creating smaller models learn from larger ones by copying their behaviour and decision-making patterns — similar to a student learning from a teacher.The company is itself facing multiple accusations of intellectual property violations, primarily related to the use of copyrighted materials in training its generative AI models.