Naver Chairman Lee Haejin: "Most Interested in the Battle to Secure Data"

"Even in the AI Era, Differentiation Comes Down to Data"
Naver Set Itself Apart from Google
by Leveraging User-Created Blogs and Cafes
"We Will Build Specialized AI
Using Commerce Data"

Lee Haejin, Chairman of Naver's Board of Directors, is giving a presentation at Naver's first overseas investment corporation 'Naver Ventures' networking event held on the 5th (local time) in Silicon Valley, USA. Photo by Naver

Lee Haejin, Chairman of Naver, stated, "What I am most interested in, and what I want to stake everything on, is the battle to secure data," adding, "Even in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), differentiation will ultimately come down to data." On the 5th (local time), just four months after returning as Chairman of the Board, he expressed these views at Naver's first overseas investment corporation 'Naver Ventures' networking event held in Silicon Valley, USA.

Chairman Lee said, "In the early days, search was a battle of algorithms, but eventually everything became similar, and data differentiation became important," and added, "With AI, the current competition is about who can build a better large language model (LLM), but eventually, this level will converge, and data differentiation will become the most important factor."

He noted, "Naver was the first in the world to realize that user-generated content (UGC), such as blogs and cafes, becomes a powerful force when connected to search," and added, "Search results powered by UGC data have been Naver's way of survival and the driving force that differentiated us from Google." Chairman Lee also stated that, in the AI era, building a UGC ecosystem such as blogs and cafes in the United States is a key challenge for Naver. He explained, "Blogs may seem like an old service, but in Korea, they are very popular among teenagers and people in their twenties who are experiencing blogs for the first time," and added, "While they are simply recording their daily lives, this actually becomes an enormous amount of data."

He said, "Although it is difficult to surpass the United States and China, which have already become 'Goliaths' in the field of foundational AI models, in a short period of time, Naver can be sufficiently competitive in specialized AI," and added, "Through Naver Ventures, we will secure new technologies and talent." In the field of specialized AI, data is the most important factor. Naver's acquisition of the U.S. secondhand trading platform 'Poshmark' in 2023 was also part of this strategy.

Chairman Lee said, "Some may wonder, 'Why did Naver suddenly invest in the secondhand market?' but we are looking at commerce data," and added, "Even the major big tech companies find it difficult to collect data on what users have purchased." He explained, "In Korea, through Smart Store; in Japan, through LINE and Yahoo; and in Spain, through the secondhand trading site Wallapop, we are securing a large amount of data," emphasizing, "Commerce is an important business direction for Naver."