Kakao, OpenAI Form Strategic Alliance for AI Development

Seoul, South Korea - Kakao announced a strategic partnership with artificial intelligence leader OpenAI on Tuesday, marking OpenAI's first collaboration in South Korea.

The announcement was made during a joint press conference at The Plaza Seoul, attended by Kakao CEO Shina Chung and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The partnership, under discussion since September 2024, will focus on integrating OpenAI's API technology into Kakao's services, including its messaging platform KakaoTalk and AI agent service Kanana.

The companies will also jointly develop new AI products.

Kakao plans to implement OpenAI's API across its services and adopt ChatGPT Enterprise as part of its transition toward becoming an "AI native company."

The collaboration builds upon Kakao's AI model orchestration strategy, first revealed at its developer conference, "if(kakaoAI)," in October 2024.

Kanana, Kakao's AI agent service, is currently under development.

It will utilize both Kakao's proprietary language models and OpenAI's technology.

The service is designed to understand context in one-on-one and group conversations to enhance user relationships.

During the press conference, Altman emphasized the rapid advancement in AI technology, noting that model costs have decreased by approximately 90% annually while capabilities continue to improve.

He highlighted messaging as an up-and-coming area for AI integration.

Chung stressed the importance of AI safety and ethical development, particularly given Kakao's 50 million-person user base.

Both companies confirmed their commitment to implementing robust safety measures in their joint AI initiatives.

The companies did not disclose the partnership's specific financial terms or investment details.

Kakao indicated that the Kanana service is scheduled for testing in the first half of 2025, and plans are in place for continuous refinement based on user feedback.