Kakao Meets President Moon: "We Will Surpass Google and Amazon with AI"

President Moon Jae-in [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao met with President Moon Jae-in and expressed its ambition to surpass global companies such as Google and Amazon in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). It also urged the government to play a "priming water" role by utilizing AI and public cloud in the public IT market.

Kang Sung, Senior Vice President of Kakao Enterprise, stated this on the afternoon of the 25th at the "Meeting Korea's Artificial Intelligence" event held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, emphasizing that securing an "ecosystem" is crucial for AI to gain competitiveness.

The event was organized to share the achievements and future vision on the first anniversary of President Moon's establishment of the "Basic Concept and National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence." Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, KT, Naver, Kakao, and others participated to present AI-related achievements and future plans.

At this event, Kakao appealed for the government and public institutions to adopt and utilize AI and cloud services.

Vice President Kang said, "Kakao believes it can compete shoulder to shoulder with the so-called AI Global Big Five (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook)," adding, "For AI to be competitive, an ecosystem that can utilize algorithms, hardware such as GPUs, data, and AI through the cloud in various fields is absolutely necessary."

He further explained, "While algorithms and hardware can be purchased with money, when it comes to 'data,' only companies that have secured a data platform and an ecosystem that can utilize AI in various fields can truly excel."

Vice President Kang emphasized that Kakao is a company with a data platform and a partner ecosystem that can apply AI engines across various sectors. Kakao established 'Kakao Enterprise,' a specialized AI and cloud company, at the end of last year and has been focusing on AI development.

Kakao's AI technologies are utilized through the platform 'KakaoTalk,' used by the entire nation, for corporate marketing, customer consultation, and home Internet of Things (IoT). They are installed in 17 million Hyundai Motor vehicles, enhancing industrial competitiveness. Additionally, Kakao created 'Kakao Work,' a business messenger that improves the efficiency of remote work through AI chatbots and video conferencing.

Furthermore, Vice President Kang stated, "Kakao will foster the AI platform ecosystem by growing together with domestic AI startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, and in 10 years, we will definitely surpass global giants," emphasizing, "We will do our best to make AI easy to learn and widely used by the entire nation through Kakao's services used by everyone."