K-water CEO Yun Seog-dae, fourth from left, poses with Jason Kwon, third from left, chief strategy officer of OpenAI, and other officials during a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seocho District, Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of K-waterKorea Water Resources Corp. (K-water) and OpenAI signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-powered water management technologies for climate change and disaster response, marking OpenAI's first collaboration with a climate-tech company worldwide, K-water said.Under the agreement, the two sides will cooperate in four key areas: accelerating AI transformation in water management, exploring generative AI solutions tailored to K-water, jointly developing AI technologies for climate disaster response and water management, and pursuing global expansion in climate and water-tech businesses.The partnership combines K-water's decades of operational expertise with OpenAI's globally competitive AI capabilities to strengthen responses to climate-related disasters such as floods and droughts, the state-run corporation said. K-water has been accelerating the adoption of AI-based technologies across the water management sector, including digital twin systems that recreate waterways in virtual environments and AI-powered water purification plants. The company recently gained international recognition by winning seven innovation awards at CES 2026 and receiving a Glomo Award at MWC Barcelona.With the global AI water management market projected to reach $64 billion by 2029, the partnership is expected to further strengthen K-water’s position.The partnership between the two follows a meeting in October last year between K-water CEO Yun Seog-dae and Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, where the two sides explored ways to integrate AI technologies with water infrastructure to better respond to climate change and growing global water risks.Earlier this year, OpenAI also publicly referenced the possibility of collaborating with K-water during the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos.K-water said it plans to actively use Korea’s domestic foundation AI models to strengthen data sovereignty and foster the local water industry ecosystem, while also participating in OpenAI’s large-scale national AI initiatives to expand Korean AI water management technologies globally.“With climate risks escalating worldwide, the partnership represents a significant step toward advancing K-water’s globally recognized AI-based water management capabilities through collaboration with a leading global AI company,” Yun said