Kakao Forms Partnership with Google, Pursues 'Two-Track' Collaboration with OpenAI

On-device AI optimization for Android devices
Collaboration on AI glasses...discussion on adopting Google's TPU
Device-focused collaboration with Google, AI B2C collaboration with OpenAI

Kakao announced on the 12th that it will collaborate with Google to enhance user experience on Android devices by leveraging Google's next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. With this, Kakao is now partnering with both OpenAI and Google, which are regarded as the two major players in the AI industry.

Shinah Chung, CEO of Kakao, said during the 2025 earnings conference call held on Thursday morning, "We are announcing a strategic partnership between Kakao and Google," adding, "As we are working directly with the Android development team, we expect to uncover various possibilities in on-device AI services that can maximize the value of data assets within the Kakao ecosystem."

Kakao CI. Provided by Kakao

First, Kakao will work on building interfaces optimized for next-generation form factors such as AI glasses based on Android XR. In particular, the company plans to provide user experiences that enable hands-free and natural language-based interactions in real-life scenarios closely tied to everyday activities such as messaging and calls.

In addition, Kakao will work with Google on optimization so that on-device AI services can run smoothly on Android mobile devices. To this end, the two companies will collaborate to ensure that Kakao's proprietary AI service, "Kanana in KakaoTalk," operates seamlessly on Android devices.

In terms of AI infrastructure, the two sides also agreed to discuss the introduction of Google's proprietary AI computation chip, the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). CEO Chung explained, "We are also in discussions with Google Cloud regarding the operation of a TPU cloud deployment at a meaningful scale."

Kanana in KakaoTalk is a service that utilizes Kakao's proprietary lightweight AI model, and is characterized by its ability to recognize when the user needs help and proactively initiate a conversation. It understands the context of the user's conversations on the device and suggests schedule briefings, information guidance, and recommendations for places and products. The service has been in beta since October last year, and Kakao plans to officially launch it within the first quarter, including an Android version.

As a result, Kakao has now formed partnerships with both Google and OpenAI, which are considered the two pillars of the AI industry. Last year, Kakao signed a strategic partnership with OpenAI and integrated "ChatGPT for Kakao" into KakaoTalk. Kakao plans to focus its collaboration with Google on devices, while its collaboration with OpenAI will center on business-to-consumer (B2C) services.

CEO Shinah Chung said, "Amid the trend of AI spreading more rapidly into users' daily lives, we pursued this partnership to seek new opportunities by combining the technological strengths of both companies," adding, "We expect that cooperation with Google will strengthen our technological competitiveness and enable us to provide users with more advanced AI-based everyday experiences."

Karen Teo, Vice President of Platform and Device Partnerships for Asia-Pacific at Google, said, "We are pleased to further solidify our partnership with Kakao," adding, "This collaboration will serve as an opportunity to combine Google's latest AI technologies with Kakao's proven ability to innovate for Korean consumers."