According to Yonhap News,
South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp. on Tuesday announced partnership with OpenAI to use ChatGPT on its new artificial intelligence (AI) service, joining a global alliance led by the U.S. AI company amid intensifying competition in the global AI market.
"I am happy to share our partnership with OpenAI as part of our ambition for new innovation and a leap forward through AI in 2025," Kakao chief executive officer (CEO) Chung Shin-a said during a press event in Seoul.
She said the two companies will work together to apply OpenAI technologies to Kakao's services and develop joint AI products. Kakao plans to launch its new integrated AI brand, Kanana, later this year.
"ChatGPT's technologies will be embedded into our services, including Kanana," Chung said. "The partnership includes technology sharing and co-development of AI products for Kakao's 50 million users."
Kakao is South Korea's major information technology (IT) company, operating the largest mobile chat app, KakaoTalk, boasting more than 50 million users, nearly matching the nation's population.
Chung revealed that the partnership with OpenAI began in September, and that discussions are ongoing to expand business collaborations.
"The two companies are exploring ways to leverage Kakao's services tailored for Korean users and OpenAI's global AI capabilities," she said.
"Our first step is to apply OpenAI's technologies and develop joint products, but this collaboration has the potential to expand in various ways."
The collaboration with Kakao appeared to be part of OpenAI's strategic alliance move as the global AI industry is undergoing seismic shifts, particularly after the recent launch of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's latest models.
The announcement of the partnership came as OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman is visiting Seoul for an OpenAI-hosted event for local AI startups and developers.
Altman said he chose Kakao for its AI vision, as both companies share a strong interest in delivering messages through AI. He also emphasized that the collaboration has the potential for further expansion.
"I think we have a shared vision for what AI can do, and we are particularly interested in AI and messaging," he said during the press event. "I am also excited that we view this as just the start and will explore many more opportunities to work together."
He said he was impressed by South Korea's rapid AI adoption and development over the past few years.
"It's a great market for us and I think AI adoption here in general has been quite incredible. There's so much of Korea that makes AI a good fit," he said. "If you think about all the industry here from energy to semiconductors to internet companies, it's really a sort of unbelievably strong place for the adopter of AI."
Additionally, Altman revealed that many South Korean companies will participate in OpenAI's US$500 billion Stargate project, a major initiative to build new AI infrastructure in the United States in collaboration with Japan's SoftBank and Oracle.
During his visit to Japan earlier this week, Altman announced plans to establish SB OpenAI Japan, a new joint venture with SoftBank.
"On Stargate, there will be many Korean companies that are important contributors to the ecosystem," he said. "I don't want to pronounce anything, but you can probably guess some of the most important partnerships are there."
brk@yna.co.kr
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Source: Yonhap News (February 4, 2025)