[AI Revolution](29) 'Rainer' Dreaming of a Global Company... "Will Beat Google"

AI-Based Search Platform Targeting Global Market
RinerChat with Higher Accuracy than ChatGPT
Understanding User Interests... Hyper-Personalized Service

"I tend to read books a bit messily. I underline important sentences, jot down my thoughts in the margins, and fold the corners of pages I want to reread. It’s frustrating that I can’t replicate these habits on a computer."

CEO Jinwoo Kim developed the 'LINER' application to solve inconveniences he experienced in daily life. Launched in 2015, LINER started as a tool to highlight text on the web with a highlighter and has now established itself as an AI-based search platform that surpasses ChatGPT. It not only summarizes long texts or explains them in simpler terms but also allows users to bookmark and take notes at desired points in YouTube videos. The main users of LINER are instructors and students participating in remote and video classes, as well as marketers and developers working online.

Last month, they launched the conversational search chatbot 'LINER Chat.' LINER Chat automatically recognizes the input language regardless of the country’s language selected and responds accordingly. It has learned 156 languages through LINER users, and offers over 20 languages at an advanced level. When asked "Who is the mayor of Seoul?" on OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it replies "I don’t know," but LINER Chat answers, "The current mayor of Seoul is Oh Se-hoon." It uses the latest information based on GPT-4 and goes through LINER’s own verification process, resulting in high accuracy.

Jinwoo Kim, CEO of Liner

Another feature is providing hyper-personalized information by understanding each user’s interests. This helps users find desired information quickly, increasing user satisfaction. To implement this, a large number of people need to use the app and accumulate vast amounts of data.

Since CEO Kim started preparing for the startup in the U.S., he was able to rapidly increase the number of users. Kim said, "From the beginning, I thought the Korean market was too small and that software should have no borders." He added, "I moved to the U.S. with the mindset of going 'all-in' on my life, living in a room rented through Airbnb while building LINER." He said, "Working with foreigners has given the company and service a global character." LINER, free from the constraints of country and language, recorded up to 10 million monthly active users in the global market. It was also ranked as one of the most popular extensions on the Chrome Web Store last year. The cumulative investment raised until last year was 16.8 billion KRW. This achievement was made by a team of about 30 employees. Kim said, "Our motto has been to do meaningful work within meaningful relationships together with the team."

Going forward, he plans to add more diverse features to the LINER service and increase revenue by expanding paid memberships and advertising. They are also steadily pursuing investment from overseas venture capital (VC). The ultimate goal is to become a global AI company that surpasses Google’s reputation. Kim said, "One of the reasons global startups find it difficult to emerge from Korea is capital strength. Until now, we have survived on technology and grit, but from now on, I want to connect with large capital markets and compete on a bigger stage."