Lee Haejin Outlines AI Strategy at Networking Event
"Competing with US and China Big Tech by Differentiating Through Data-Driven Specialized AI"
Naver to Establish 'Naver Ventures'
"We have continued to fight the battle of David and Goliath, and we are used to that fight. In the end, for David to defeat Goliath, he must focus quickly and throw a single stone well."
Lee Haejin, founder of Naver, shared the company's ambitions in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). He stated that although it may be difficult to surpass the AI giants of the United States and China in the field of foundational AI models in the short term, Naver can still be highly competitive in specialized AI areas such as commerce and shopping.
On June 5 (local time), at a networking event held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Silicon Valley, California, Lee emphasized, "We are currently in the process of picking up the stone, and before picking up the stone, we need to prepare basic technologies such as LLMs (large language models) and cloud infrastructure."
Lee acknowledged that Naver's AI technology lags behind that of the United States and China. However, he added, "We inevitably lack investment scale and manpower, but we have always fought under such conditions, and we are used to it." Currently, most of the general-purpose AI widely used in the global market has been developed in the United States, and Chinese AI is also evaluated as having comparable performance.
Lee also expressed confidence that Naver has a fair chance in AI competition focused on specific domains. While the United States and China have established a duopoly in general-purpose AI such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek, he argued that in specialized AI fields, Naver can compete on equal footing. In these specialized AI domains, already accumulated data plays a crucial role.
Lee predicted, "Search was also initially a battle of algorithms, but eventually, everything became similar, and differentiation through data became important. The same will happen with AI." He expects that while the current competition in AI is about who can build better LLM models or algorithms, eventually, the technology will become similar, and differentiation will be determined by data.
Naver's decision to acquire the U.S. secondhand marketplace 'Poshmark' in 2023 was also made with data in mind. Lee explained, "The number one area Naver wants to focus on is commerce. Outsiders may wonder why Naver suddenly invested in the secondhand market with Poshmark, but we are looking at the commerce data."
He added, "In Korea, we are securing a lot of data through Smart Store (an online shopping mall support platform), in Japan through Line and Yahoo, and in Spain through Wallapop, a secondhand trading site. We believe that commerce will become our key business direction."
Lee cited the characteristics of the domestic market, where IT technology is advanced and the penetration rate of smart devices is high, as a key factor in Naver's success. He said, "One of the biggest reasons for Naver's success is Korean users. When we launch a service, they try it and respond very quickly. Korean users are the world's best testbed," he praised.
Lee stepped down as chairman of Naver's board in March 2017 and served solely as Global Investment Officer (GIO) before returning to the chairman position in March this year after seven years. It appears that his decision to return was also influenced by concerns that Naver's competitiveness in the AI era was lagging behind global big tech companies. However, Lee emphasized, "I am not leading directly; my role is to support the management so they can do better."
Naver plans to establish an investment corporation called 'Naver Ventures' to discover and invest in startups in Silicon Valley, United States. Through Naver Ventures, Naver expects to create growth momentum through synergies with new technologies, talent, and partners. Naver Ventures will be led by Kim Namsun, head of Naver's Strategic Investment Division, and the establishment process is expected to be completed within this month.
In addition to Lee, the event was attended by key Naver executives, including CEO Choi Sooyoun and Strategic Investment Division head Kim Namsun. They held a networking event with members of the startup ecosystem and discussed various topics related to the establishment of Naver Ventures.
CEO Choi stated, "Silicon Valley is a cradle of technology and innovation, where talented individuals and new technologies gather," and added, "Even amid uncertainties in the international situation, we will play a role in ensuring that these talents and technologies receive stable investment and can continue to develop technology and operate their businesses."
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