Samsung Electronics Makes a Historic AI Pivot
Samsung Electronics is rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise and Codex to employees across its global workforce in what OpenAI is calling one of its largest enterprise deployments to date. The move marks a dramatic about-face for a company that imposed a total ban on generative AI tools just three years ago.
Under the deployment, all Samsung Electronics employees in South Korea and every employee in the Device eXperience (DX) division worldwide will gain access to OpenAI's enterprise-grade AI tools.
From Ban to Billion-Dollar Partnership
In March 2023, Samsung engineers accidentally leaked sensitive source code through ChatGPT. The response was a company-wide ban on generative AI tools that lasted years. The pivot began in late 2025 when Samsung SDS established a reseller partnership with OpenAI, making it the first Korean entity authorized to manage ChatGPT Enterprise deployments.
AI Tools for Everyone
Employees across R&D;, manufacturing, marketing, and corporate functions will use ChatGPT Enterprise for research, drafting, and data analysis. Codex will be available to all employees — not just developers — allowing non-technical staff to turn ideas into working software.
Codex's weekly active users in Korea have grown nearly 800% since February 2026, signaling massive pent-up demand. Samsung is deploying a multi-vendor AI stack that includes ChatGPT alongside Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude, deliberately avoiding vendor lock-in.
Originally published onTekMag
Originally published on TekMag
