Kakao, the creator of KakaoTalk used by 50 million people, partnered with OpenAI to recover its lagging position in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and to lead the ‘AI popularization’ in the Korean market. Among domestic companies, Kakao is the first to form a strategic partnership with OpenAI.
On the 4th, Jeong Sin-ah, CEO of Kakao, announced this partnership with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and revealed that OpenAI’s models will be introduced into Kakao’s AI service ‘KANANA’ to be launched this year. The cooperation direction between the two companies was summarized in three Q&A points.
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
- How will the ‘OpenAI model’ be implemented in ‘KANANA’?
▲ KANANA is Kakao’s AI service aiming to be an ‘AI assistant.’ When users ask questions, KANANA remembers key information from previous conversations to provide optimized answers. For example, if a user requests ‘Find me a good restaurant in Hongdae,’ KANANA recommends restaurants based on past food-related conversations the user had with KANANA. The AI model analyzes schedules and tasks emerging from user conversations and provides relevant information, a role fulfilled by OpenAI’s model. Simply put, KANANA acts like the eyes, ears, and mouth that recognize user questions and deliver answers, while the OpenAI model serves as the ‘brain.’ When KANANA receives a question, the OpenAI model handles reasoning and learning to provide the answer.
- What is the progress of technology development between the two companies?
▲ Beyond utilizing OpenAI’s models in KANANA, the two companies are jointly developing new AI products in two directions. Although the specific direction of joint development is not yet finalized, Kakao has formed a team for co-developing AI products with OpenAI. Kakao is a latecomer in AI, so it is pursuing a ‘model orchestration’ strategy that uses both internally developed AI models and external AI models. OpenAI operates AI services like ChatGPT and DeepResearch and already has several proven AI models, making it a good collaboration partner for Kakao. OpenAI also needs Kakao. CEO Altman has shown strong interest in the Korean AI market and evaluated its growth potential as high. He judged that partnering with Kakao, which is used by most of the population, would solidify OpenAI’s position in Korea.
- When and how can KANANA be used?
▲ KANANA will be implemented through a separate KANANA application (app) distinct from KakaoTalk. A closed beta test (CBT) was completed at the end of last year with Kakao employees, and the goal is to release it to the public within this year. The service is divided into a personal mate ‘Nana’ and a group mate ‘Kana.’ Nana remembers conversations in personal chat rooms or group chat rooms the user participates in to provide personalized services. Kana operates by remembering meeting attendance schedules and preparation items discussed in group chat rooms and notifying users via messages.
Jeongsin A, CEO of Kakao, is introducing the integrated AI brand Kanana at the developer conference 'if(kakaoAI) 2024' held on October 22 last year. Provided by Kakao
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