Upstage has acquired Timely, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) multi-platform company, the company said Tuesday.
Timely operates "Timely AI," an AI platform that allows anyone to build AI agents needed for their work without separate coding. Based on large language models (LLMs), it provides integrated AI functions required for work, including prompts, image and video generation, and document conversion. It is currently used by the Seoul Metropolitan Government's pay-as-you-go AI service "Seoul AI Chat," as well as local governments, public institutions, and educational institutions nationwide.
Through this acquisition, Upstage plans to fully expand its AI agent business based on Timely AI, which is equipped with the company's proprietary LLM "Solar." The aim is to combine Timely's deployment expertise, proven in public and educational settings, with Upstage's technological capabilities, enabling not only developers but anyone to implement customized work automation with AI.
Upstage is also pursuing business diversification through this acquisition. The company previously acquired AXZ, the operator of "Daum," expanding its channels for deploying its own AI models. By adding Timely, the company plans to accelerate its strategy to expand an AI ecosystem that connects its existing business-to-business (B2B) industry base to the public, education, and general users.
"Competition in the AI industry will now be decided not by performance alone, but by how quickly and deeply models are deployed to actual sites to get work done," Upstage CEO Kim Sung-hoon said. "Through this combination, we will raise the AI effectiveness that various general users, including companies and institutions, can actually feel, making it an opportunity to elevate the AI competitiveness of the entire nation by one level." Timely CEO Kim Dae-hwan said, "The combination of Upstage and Timely will take the practical-use base and depth of Korea's AI industry to a new dimension." He added, "By allowing anyone to find all the AI they need in one place, we will quickly lead the era of easy-to-use AI agents."
