Upstage, an artificial intelligence (AI) technology company, said Monday it has finalized its acquisition of AXZ, the operator of the portal Daum.
Upstage and Kakao, AXZ's parent company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in January through a stock swap arrangement under which Kakao would transfer its entire stake in AXZ to Upstage while acquiring a certain stake in Upstage. The two companies completed the acquisition process after concluding the definitive agreement following approximately four months of in-depth due diligence.
Building on the acquisition, Upstage plans to advance its proprietary large language model (LLM) 'Solar' into a next-generation AI portal by combining it with Daum's search engine and vast content data. The company aims to differentiate its service through 'Context AI,' which understands intent and context to provide answers, moving beyond simple keyword-based searches. Starting from there, Upstage aims to establish itself as a next-generation portal with its entire service restructured around AI.
Upstage said the acquisition is particularly expected to create positive synergies for the nationwide expansion of the AI ecosystem under the 'Sovereign AI Foundation Model' project, in which the company is participating as a lead organization. If the national flagship AI model currently being developed with proprietary technology is combined with Daum, it can realize the expansion of a public AI service ecosystem that anyone can easily use through Daum services, the company explained.
"This acquisition, which combines the technological capabilities of Upstage, a leading Korean AI company, with a national portal with more than 30 years of history, will serve as a symbolic turning point in the AI industry, opening a new era of AI portals," Upstage CEO Kim Sung-hoon said.
