Kakao is broadening its partnership base to include Google as part of a strategy to secure dominance in the fiercely competitive artificial intelligence era. While keeping pace with rapid changes alone proves difficult, collaborating with global leaders in each field can boost efficiency.
Kakao's master plan involves a "two-track strategy": partnering with OpenAI for large language model utilization and with Google for device experience, thereby expanding KakaoTalk's influence. Analysts note that Kakao's record-breaking performance last year, driven by rising KakaoTalk-related revenue, is fueling these moves.
"Rather than handling everything ourselves, we will efficiently cover all AI layers by collaborating with the most advanced global partners in each field," Kakao CEO Jeong Shin-ah said during an earnings conference call on February 12.
Kakao launched "ChatGPT for Kakao" in October last year, enabling users to access OpenAI's ChatGPT within KakaoTalk. The service now has 8 million users.
"Starting this year, we will introduce various ChatGPT-based AI features within KakaoTalk and expand our OpenAI collaboration," Jeong said. "We plan to build partnerships in areas that don't overlap with Google and OpenAI."
The Google partnership differs from the OpenAI collaboration in that it aims to broaden the reach of AI services developed with Kakao's own technology. Kakao will work with Google on Android optimization to expand the user base for "Kanana in KakaoTalk," scheduled for official release in the first quarter.
Kanana in KakaoTalk is central to Kakao's AI services as it is built on the company's proprietary language model "Kanana." Kakao is focusing on integrating various agent AI capabilities to enable convenient shopping, reservations, and navigation within KakaoTalk.
The challenge is that Kanana in KakaoTalk currently runs only on high-end iOS devices, specifically iPhone 15 Pro and above, during its pilot phase. Kakao plans to resolve this quickly through Google to enable use on Android mobile devices.
The Google collaboration also aims to secure future growth opportunities.
"We will also collaborate on Google AI Glass, which will be released in the future," Jeong said. "We will experiment with how user experiences can change when Kakao services are added across various AI form factor environments."
This signals Kakao's intention to accelerate interface development so its services can adapt flexibly as IT devices diversify into phones, headsets, glasses, and other forms.
Kakao is intensifying its AI service expansion because AI monetization is becoming increasingly important and viable. Thanks to strong performance in its KakaoTalk-based platform segment, Kakao posted record consolidated revenue of 8.0991 trillion won and operating profit of 732 billion won last year. Operating profit surged 48% from 495 billion won in 2024.
Kakao believes profitability will improve further once ChatGPT for Kakao and Kanana in KakaoTalk—which combine KakaoTalk with various AI agents—gain traction.
"Daily average time spent on KakaoTalk by users of ChatGPT for Kakao and Kanana in KakaoTalk increased by approximately 4 minutes," Jeong said. "We will make this year the inaugural year of AI monetization through a strategy focused on expanding AI service users and implementing agent AI."
Meanwhile, big tech companies domestically and abroad are increasingly forming alliances to complement their in-house development limitations. Long-time rivals Apple and Google announced AI technology collaboration last month. Apple, recognizing the limits of its own AI model development, decided to use Google's "Gemini" as the foundation for its AI system.
Naver is pushing to build an independent AI model with its hyperscale language model HyperCLOVA X, while also signing a memorandum of understanding with Nvidia for physical AI platform development.
"Both Naver and Kakao have set AI monetization as their goal this year, but their methodologies for AI model development and establishment differ," an IT industry official said. "Naver is pursuing sovereign AI, while Kakao is experimenting with various approaches by combining in-house development with external LLMs like ChatGPT."