Korean startup Wrtn aims to popularize AI search engine platform

Park Min-jun, head of its Answer Engine Division

South Korean artificial intelligence (AI) startup Wrtn Technologies Inc. aims to replace traditional search engines with its innovative AI search platform, according to Park Min-jun, head of its Answer Engine Division.

“The goal of AI search engine Wrtn is to completely replace the search engine market dominated by Google Inc. and Naver Corp.,” Park said, in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper on Monday.

“Today’s AI search engines focus too much on enhancing productivity. We will popularize AI search portals by focusing on making search fun and easily accessible.”

Wrtn Technologies introduced the first generative AI platform in the country. AI search is a core service of the company, characterized by providing optimized real-time answers tailored to user intent.

While similar services have emerged abroad to challenge Google, many are paid services with limited ability to search Korean information.

[Courtesy of Wrtn Technologies Inc.]

Wrtn’s AI search service, which launched last year, has gained significant traction among young Koreans.

This popularity is attributed to the platform’s unique ability to improve response quality through interactions with millions of Koreans, offering a specialized AI search experience tailored to Korean users.

Using a large language model (LLM), Wrtn’s AI search addresses two main inconveniences of traditional search engines.

“Even with Googling, there are differences in skill levels,” Park said. “Users must decide which keywords to choose and how to summarize them. In contrast, AI search processes natural language inputs, automatically selecting and summarizing key phrases for the search.”

This approach significantly enhances search efficiency compared to traditional methods.

Park highlighted the AI’s capability, saying, “While there are limits to the amount of text a person can read per unit of time through portal searches, AI can read thousands of characters in seconds and extract and synthesize relevant parts to answer questions.”

Recently, Wrtn introduced a real-time search ranking feature on its website and mobile application.

This new service aims to enhance the user experience for those unfamiliar with AI search, encouraging broader adoption of the technology.