[Concall] Jeongsin A, Kakao CEO, "Launching Conversational AI Service in H2... Will Release as Separate App"

Kakao will launch an artificial intelligence (AI) service in the form of a conversational platform in the second half of this year.

On the morning of the 8th, at the Q2 earnings presentation, Jeong Sin-ah, CEO of Kakao, stated, "We will actively explore monetization possibilities through AI innovation," adding, "In the second half, we plan to introduce a B2C (business-to-consumer) AI service in the form of a conversational platform, which is Kakao's unique strength."

She continued, "Since the service will include users who are not familiar with AI, we plan to minimize hallucinations and release it as a separate application rather than within KakaoTalk."

CEO Jeong also said, "We will launch the service after conducting quality verification and improvement work in the second half," adding, "Rather than focusing investments on developing our own large language model (LLM), we will quickly proceed with launching AI services that are easily accessible from a cost-efficiency perspective."

Previously, Kakao established a dedicated AI organization called 'Kanana.' It is divided into 'Kanana X,' which develops AI services, and 'Kanana Alpha,' which focuses on AI model development. Kanana X is led by Lee Sang-ho, former Kakao CAIO (Chief AI Officer), and Kanana Alpha is led by Kim Byung-hak, co-CEO of Kakao Brain. Both have stepped down from their previous positions and now serve as PO (Product Owner), leading service and product management, and FO (Function Owner), leading model development that underpins the service, respectively.