OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has expressed interest in using South Korea as a testbed for the company’s first hardware product, the presidential office said on Tuesday. Altman made the remarks during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in San Francisco on Friday, where the two discussed expanding cooperation in artificial intelligence. Senior presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Altman hoped to test the upcoming device in South Korea and indicated that OpenAI was open to broadening its partnership with the country. The presidential office said the product is expected in the first quarter of next year. Bloomberg reported on July 15, citing people familiar with the project, that OpenAI’s first product is a screenless smart speaker with a rechargeable battery, designed to be carried from room to room as a household AI companion. The effort rests on OpenAI’s USD6.5 billion acquisition last year of io Products. During trademark litigation brought by audio startup iyO, the company said in February that it would not ship the device before the end of February 2027. On July 10, Apple sued OpenAI and its chief hardware officer Tang Tan in the Northern District of California, alleging theft of trade secrets, and is seeking an injunction that could delay sales.