[AI Revolution] ④ Finding the Latest Information with ChatGPT... Upstage

Customized AI Pack for Businesses, Boosting Sales and Reducing Costs
Integrating Search Engine with ChatGPT with Eyes

AI startup Upstage recorded sales of 8.8 billion KRW just eight months after its establishment in 2020. Despite not having any notable services, it achieved results solely through technology consulting. This was due to a flood of inquiries from companies looking to adopt AI. Recently, Upstage CEO Kim Seong-hoon introduced 'Asukup (AskUp)' on KakaoTalk, which he quickly developed over a weekend. Asukup is a 'chatGPT with eyes,' applying Upstage’s proprietary optical character recognition (OCR) technology to the chatbot AI chatGPT. As many people eager to try chatGPT easily flocked to it, the number of users exceeded 350,000 within 18 days of its launch. Through this, Upstage confirmed that both companies and the public are truly serious about AI. This is why the company emphasizes 'easy AI' that anyone can use.

Kim Seong-hoon, CEO of Upstage [Photo by Upstage]

Boosting Corporate Sales with AI Packs

Upstage offers 'AI Packs' to corporate clients. The AI Packs are divided into the 'OCR Pack,' which extracts desired information from document images, and the personalized recommendation system 'AI Recommendation Pack.' Companies can choose customized options based on performance or application scope. This means AI can be applied only as much as needed without large investments or big data input.

Because it is a customized service, it offers high cost-effectiveness (performance relative to price). A representative example is the fashion shopping app Brandy. Last September, Brandy applied the AI Recommendation Pack and saw significant effects. By improving the precision of personalized recommendations, users responded that the products they wanted to buy appeared more frequently. The purchase conversion rate per exposure jumped nearly 60% compared to before. As a result, the company posted its first profit last year.

Upstage processes documents required for insurance claims, such as medical fee receipts, using OCR technology.
[Photo by Upstage]

The demanding financial sector also adopted AI Packs. Hanwha Life Insurance applied the OCR Pack last month to speed up insurance claim processing. It uses OCR technology to handle documents required for insurance claims, such as medical receipts. Various forms are automatically classified, and only text information is extracted to automatically process insurance claims. By automating tasks previously done manually, the time and cost required for insurance claim processing were reduced by 82% compared to before.

ChatGPT Usable on KakaoTalk

Recently, Asukup has been gaining popularity. On the 6th, Upstage launched chatGPT that can be used on messenger platforms KakaoTalk and Line. Users can add Asukup as a friend on the messenger channel and chat with chatGPT directly on KakaoTalk. There is no need to open Microsoft (MS)’s search engine Bing or visit the US startup OpenAI’s website.

Upstage added its proprietary OCR technology to chatGPT, giving Asukup “eyes.” Through this, Asukup understands text within photos. For example, if a user uploads a photo of a clothing tag written in Japanese and asks about washing instructions, Asukup provides an answer. It has also been tuned to deliver optimal responses in Korean. This allows it to better understand user intent and engage in friendly conversations.

Added the latest search feature to Asukup
Image source=Upstage

After confirming interest in AI through Asukup, Upstage is moving faster than domestic big tech companies. It applied the latest version of GPT, which powers chatGPT, to Asukup just three days after its release. On the 23rd, it added the latest search functionality. Asukup was linked with major search engines such as Naver, Daum, Google, and Bing. Unlike chatGPT, which answers based on data prior to September 2021, Asukup can retrieve the latest information.

Avengers-Level AI Talent as a Weapon

Upstage’s ability to penetrate both corporate and individual services is thanks to its technological prowess. CEO Kim is a globally recognized AI expert. He earned 11 gold medals?the first double-digit gold medal count in Korea?at 'Kaggle,' an international AI competition known as the 'AI Olympics.' Since 2017, he has led AI development at Naver.

The C-level executives, who are top leaders in their respective fields, are also Avengers-level. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Lee Hwal-seok, who led Naver Clova OCR, and Chief Science Officer (CSO) Park Eun-jung, who created Naver’s translation service Papago, have joined forces. In addition, global big tech talents from Nvidia, Facebook, and eBay have joined Upstage. CEO Kim said, “With Korea’s top AI technology, we will lead the provision of AI solutions tailored to the needs of various corporate clients. Through Asukup, we also aim to enhance the accessibility and trustworthiness of AI for the public.”