Korea’s Kakao Teams Up With OpenAI To Develop AI Products

Billionaire Kim Beom-su’s Kakao on Tuesday announced a partnership with OpenAI, including a deal to use the AI startup’s technology to power the South Korean internet giant’s new personalized AI tool and to co-develop new products tailored to Korean users.

In a joint press conference in Seoul, Kakao said its upcoming AI messaging service will be built on OpenAI’s advanced models. The new service, known as Kanana, will be capable of giving personalized responses based on chat records. Kakao added that it will deploy OpenAI’s technology in more of its existing products, including messaging app KakaoTalk.

Meanwhile, Kakao and OpenAI said they will jointly develop products, without elaborating further.

“Kakao has a deep understanding of how technology can enrich everyday lives, and they’ve consistently delivered innovative experiences for their users,” said OpenAI’s billionaire cofounder and CEO Sam Altman. “We’re excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao’s millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao’s users communicate and connect.”

Kakao CEO Shina Chung said the partnership marks “a turning point in Kakao’s efforts to bring the future closer.” Chung has said that Kakao would shift its focus away from developing its own large language models, citing high cost with no clear business model in place.

Chung took the helm of the Korean internet giant last March after a ten-year stint at its venture capital arm. She was tasked to steady the ship, as Kakao’s founder and chairman, Kim, was arrested last July over allegations of stock price manipulation during the company’s bidding war for one of the country’s largest K-pop agencies. The first female CEO of Kakao, Chung made the Forbes Asia Power Businesswomen list last year.

Kakao is the latest major tech company in Asia that partnered with OpenAI, the U.S. company behind the popular ChatGPT chatbot. On Monday, OpenAI’s Altman joined SoftBank Group’s billionaire founder and CEO Masayoshi Son in Tokyo to unveil a joint venture with the Japanese investment titan. The venture, known as SB OpenAI Japan, will sell AI services to businesses in Japan. SoftBank said it will also spend $3 billion annually to use OpenAI’s technology across its group companies.

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