Naver, Kakao accelerate their entry into enterprise AI market

Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. [Courtesy of each company]

Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp., the two largest platform companies in South Korea, are set to compete fiercely in the enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) service market.

“We will apply HyperCLOVAX not only to search but also to all Naver services, and we will also introduce services for business customers,” said Naver’s Chief Executive Officer Choi Soo-yeon during the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call on Monday, referring to plans to launch the company’s next-generation super-scale AI, HyperCLOVAX, this summer.

“Naver will introduce customized services that better addresses issues related to customization and data protection that global peers are unable to address,” Choi said. “In Japan, Naver will also introduce enterprise services that incorporate HyperCLOVAX into productivity tools, such as LINE Works and Naver Works, later this year and we are currently working on a project to expand Naver‘s enterprise software into a platform that combines with AI.”

Kakao Enterprise Corp., Kakao’s IT services subsidiary, is also conducting a closed beta test (CBT) with select companies and organizations based on its super-sized AI engine for business customers. The current CBT is a security-focused service to protect companies’ sensitive information. The company hasn’t yet decided on when it will be released, a Kakao Enterprise official said.

Recently, SK telecom Co. began utilizing super-sized AI in its business by introducing an in-house chatbot using ChatGPT’s application programming interface (API).

ChatGPT developer OpenAI said on its official blog late last month that it will launch a subscription model for businesses soon.