Kakao Announces Strategic Partnership with OpenAI
OpenAI Technology to Be Used in Kakao Services such as KakaoTalk and Kanana
Joint Development of New AI Products Planned
Sam Altman: "Sharing a Long-Term Vision with Kakao"
Jeong Sina: "Will Lead the Popularization of AI Services"
Kakao and OpenAI have announced a sudden partnership and decided to apply OpenAI's technology to Kakao's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant service 'Kanana.' Additionally, the two companies will jointly promote the development of new AI products. Among domestic companies, Kakao is the first to form a strategic partnership with OpenAI.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and Jeong Sin-ah, CEO of Kakao, are attending the 'Kakao Media Day' held at the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 4th, posing for a photo. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
On the morning of the 4th, at a press conference held at The Plaza Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, Jeong Sin-ah, CEO of Kakao, announced the strategic partnership with OpenAI, saying, "Kakao aims to secure the best AI technology and cooperate with the best partners to realize all imaginable services in the AI era." Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who arrived in Korea the day before, also attended the event.
In this partnership, both companies will focus on making it easy for Kakao users to use AI services. Specifically, they plan to promote ▲technical cooperation for AI service advancement ▲joint product development.
'Utilizing OpenAI Technology in "Model Orchestration"... Advancing Services'
Jung Sin-ah, CEO of Kakao, is making a presentation at a press conference held on the morning of the 4th at The Plaza Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kakao
Under this partnership, Kakao plans to utilize OpenAI's latest AI technology APIs in its major services such as KakaoTalk and Kanana. Kanana is an AI agent service that helps users form and strengthen relationships by providing context-aware responses not only in one-on-one conversations but also in group chats. Furthermore, Kakao has decided to introduce ChatGPT Enterprise.
Through the partnership with OpenAI, Kakao will strengthen its 'model orchestration' strategy while advancing AI services. The model orchestration, announced as Kakao's AI platform strategy in October last year, refers to introducing multiple AI models into Kakao's various services and providing customized AI models suitable for each service. Instead of developing a large language model (LLM) independently, Kakao's strategy is to select and implement various already developed AI models according to needs.
According to Kakao, since September last year, Kakao and OpenAI have been discussing cooperation plans in technology, services, and business with the goal of 'popularizing AI services.' CEO Altman explained the reason for choosing Kakao as a partner in Korea, saying, "We share a vision with Kakao from a long-term perspective," and added, "Especially, we are very interested in AI and messaging, and there are many areas to explore from the user's perspective."
Joint Development of New Products... "Leading Popularization with Personalized Services"
Sam Altman, CEO and founder of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, attended the 'Kakao Media Day' held on the 4th at the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, and is having a conversation with Jeong Shin-ah, CEO of Kakao. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
In addition to technical cooperation, the two companies will also promote joint product development. The aim is to accelerate the popularization of AI services by developing customized AI products suitable for the Korean market. However, the specific direction for commercialization has not yet been decided. CEO Jeong said, "We are having various discussions with OpenAI, but it is difficult to talk about it now," and explained, "Basically, we are developing in a direction that meets user demand within the services Kakao operates."
They also emphasized the safety of AI models. Since AI models handle users' data, safety has become an important issue. CEO Altman stressed, "As the complexity of AI models increases, safety is no longer an abstract idea," adding, "Ensuring safety is as important as AI product development."
At the event, CEO Altman said, "Kakao has a deep understanding of how technology enriches everyday life and has continuously provided innovative experiences to users," and added, "We are very pleased to be able to provide cutting-edge AI to Kakao's numerous users and collaborate to integrate this technology into Kakao's services to innovate the way Kakao users communicate and connect."
CEO Jeong emphasized, "Based on the capabilities accumulated over a long period by sharing the daily lives of the majority of the people, Kakao's role in this era is to present personalized AI that understands users best," and added, "By cooperating with OpenAI, which has global technological competitiveness, we will lead the popularization of AI services by providing innovative customer experiences."
Meanwhile, when reporters asked CEO Altman about OpenAI's plan to establish a branch office in Korea, he avoided a direct answer, saying, "We cannot share specific schedules yet, but we think Korea is a good AI market." Regarding investments for the partnership, CEO Jeong explained, "The scale of investment may increase, so it is difficult to talk about it now."
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