[Conference Call] Kakao CEO Jungsin A Announces Kanana AI Beta Test: "Not a Finished Design"

Jungsin A, CEO of Kakao. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

Jungsin A, CEO of Kakao, announced during an earnings conference call on May 8 that the company would begin a closed beta test (CBT) for the new AI service application 'Kanana' for the general public starting that day.

Kanana, which utilizes the OpenAI model, is a hyper-personalized AI service that understands the user's conversational context and assists with both work and daily life. CEO A explained, "Rather than a finished design, this is an early version in search of the right answers," adding, "While testing the stability of the service, we will also verify our hypotheses regarding user needs for AI by identifying which prompts are most frequently used by users."

She anticipated that as more user data accumulates, Kanana will be able to function as a truly hyper-personalized AI, enabling expansion into a variety of services and businesses, including B2C (business-to-consumer) offerings.

Kakao plans to sequentially launch not only the Kanana app but also AI-powered recommendation and generative search services for shopping and local categories, as well as co-developed products with OpenAI.

CEO A stated, "This year, Kakao will sequentially unveil the results of various experiments and initiatives we have been preparing, establishing a foundation for AI to become a new growth engine for Kakao."