Naver Applies HyperCLOVA X Across Services
Kakao Launches KoGPT 2.0... Aggressive Investment This Year
Naver and Kakao are making bold moves this second half of the year with their own ultra-large artificial intelligence (AI) models. Naver is launching a direct challenge to GPT-4, which is regarded as the smartest AI, with an AI capable of understanding images and voice. Kakao is also strengthening its competitiveness with AI services using its own Korean-specialized model and GPT-4.
Naver to Unveil AI That Understands Images and Voice
Naver will unveil its ultra-large AI 'HyperCLOVA X' this summer. It is characterized by its ability to understand not only text but also images and voice. It responds by utilizing various application programming interfaces (APIs) such as calculation and maps. APIs are program functions that can be combined like Lego blocks. For example, if you ask about nearby restaurants by voice, it can show a map.
Despite its high performance, operating costs have been reduced to one-fourth compared to competitors. The strategy is to respond to OpenAI’s latest AI model GPT-4. GPT-4 can understand text and images, but its image input function is still in the testing phase and not yet available.
Naver plans to apply HyperCLOVA X across its services. Starting this second half of the year, it will be introduced in search, shopping, sales tools, blog creation, knowledge Q&A, and travel reservations. HyperCLOVA X will also be introduced in the fiercely competitive business-to-business (B2B) sector for generative AI. Within the year, Naver will launch enterprise services incorporating AI into productivity tools such as Line Works in Japan. It emphasizes strengths in data protection issues, where global big tech companies are relatively weak, and in customized customer services. Alongside this, Naver plans to upgrade Clova Studio to enable the creation of generative AI services by combining customer data with HyperCLOVA X.
Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, said, "HyperCLOVA X, which has learned the largest scale of Korean language data, will be a model that competes with GPT-4," and emphasized, "Recently, AI commercialization services are rapidly launching in the global market, which presents a new opportunity for Naver to leap forward."
Kakao Launches KoGPT 2.0... Beta Service for Enterprise AI Chatbot
Kakao will also unveil the upgraded version of its own ultra-large AI 'KoGPT,' called 'KoGPT 2.0,' this second half of the year. It will expand the parameters and data token scale that determine AI performance compared to the previous model.
Kakao also hinted at aggressive investment in AI. It plans to peak AI investment this year with an expected cost of up to 300 billion KRW. About 80% of the investment cost will be allocated to AI-related cloud services. Although operating profit in the first quarter dropped to about half compared to the same period last year, the company concluded that it must respond aggressively to AI.
They have also kept open the possibility of collaboration with other models besides their own AI model. Hong Eun-taek, CEO of Kakao, stated, "For some tasks, we will use KoGPT, and for others, GPT-4 or LaMDA. Since using one does not mean we cannot use the others, we will utilize advanced technologies."
Kakao affiliate Kakao Enterprise has introduced an enterprise AI chatbot tentatively named 'Kakao i GPT.' This service, combined with ChatGPT, is currently being provided in a closed beta (CBT) format to some companies and institutions. Companies can upload documents such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files they own, and later search for information, receiving answers from vast data like ChatGPT. Since ChatGPT raises concerns about corporate information leakage, Kakao Enterprise has strengthened security. When documents are designated as confidential or secure, the data does not go to OpenAI but is used internally based on a separately generated database (DB).
CEO Hong said, "By promoting Korean-language AI generative models and cooperating with global players, Kakao will be able to secure competitiveness with its strong chat interface."
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