South Korea Seeks AI Partnership with Anthropic — Second Major AI Pact After OpenAI

South Korea Seeks AI Partnership with Anthropic — Second Major AI Pact After OpenAI

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT is actively pursuing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with U.S. AI startup Anthropic, aiming to diversify its AI cooperation strategy by securing a second major AI partner after OpenAI.

The initiative began when Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at the 'AI Impact Summit 2026' in New Delhi, India, in February 2026. Discussions covered Anthropic's plans to open a Seoul office and potential collaboration on AI safety research.

Anthropic, known for developing the AI model 'Claude,' has particular strengths in enterprise solutions and AI safety research. After reaching $1 billion in annual revenue, the company has been growing approximately tenfold each year, emerging as a formidable competitor to OpenAI. South Korea ranks in the global top five for Claude usage both in total volume and per capita, making it a strategically important market. Anthropic announced plans to establish a Korean office in Seoul's Gangnam district in early 2026.

The South Korean government intends to pursue a 'two-track strategy': maintaining its existing collaboration with OpenAI while forging a new partnership with Anthropic. This approach aims to accelerate public sector AI adoption, AI talent development, and the creation of a national-level 'sovereign AI' foundation model. This move is part of South Korea's broader strategy to strengthen its position as an AI hub in Asia and respond to the rapidly evolving global AI competitive landscape.