Korea’s Kakao Teams Up With OpenAI To Develop AI Products
Feb 04, 2025 - forbes.com
Kakao has announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate the AI startup's technology into its services, including a new personalized AI messaging tool called Kanana. This tool will provide personalized responses based on chat records and will be built on OpenAI's advanced models. The partnership also involves co-developing new products tailored for Korean users, with plans to deploy OpenAI's technology in existing Kakao products like KakaoTalk. Kakao CEO Shina Chung highlighted the collaboration as a significant shift in the company's strategy, moving away from developing its own large language models due to high costs and unclear business models.
The announcement was made during a joint press conference in Seoul, where OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed excitement about bringing advanced AI to Kakao's user base. This partnership follows OpenAI's recent joint venture with SoftBank in Japan, indicating a broader strategy to expand AI services in Asia. Kakao's founder, Kim Beom-su, is currently facing legal issues, and Shina Chung, the first female CEO of Kakao, is steering the company through this transition.
Key takeaways:
Kakao announced a partnership with OpenAI to use its technology for a new personalized AI tool and to co-develop products for Korean users.
The new AI messaging service, Kanana, will be built on OpenAI's models and provide personalized responses based on chat records.
Kakao CEO Shina Chung stated the partnership marks a shift away from developing Kakao's own large language models due to high costs.
OpenAI also partnered with SoftBank in Japan to sell AI services, with SoftBank investing $3 billion annually to use OpenAI's technology.
