Kakao Corp. is intensifying its efforts to evolve KakaoTalk, the leading messaging application utilized by over 90% of South Korea’s 50 million residents, into an artificial intelligence-driven super app through a strategic partnership with OpenAI. Industry insiders reveal that the Korean tech giant has been collaborating with the world’s foremost AI company to integrate ChatGPT into its messaging platform. Following the establishment of this alliance during Sam Altman’s visit to Seoul in February, Kakao announced plans to incorporate OpenAI’s cutting-edge application programming interface alongside its proprietary large language model into its flagship offerings, including the KakaoTalk messenger and Kanana.
Innovative Features and Services
Kanana, Kakao’s inaugural messenger featuring a conversational AI agent, is engineered to facilitate both one-on-one and group chats, delivering contextually relevant responses. In addition to ChatGPT, Kakao is enhancing its offerings with AI-driven e-commerce and various other services, with the goal of upgrading Kanana and fostering synergies throughout its expansive ecosystem.
These initiatives are part of Kakao’s broader vision to transform Korea’s most popular messaging app into an AI super app—a comprehensive platform that encompasses messaging, payments, shopping, and additional services.
Global Competition in AI Super Apps
The integration of AI assistants has ignited a competitive landscape among global messaging applications, with WhatsApp, WeChat, and Line at the forefront. Analyst Choi Seung-ho from DS Investment & Securities Co. notes, “Incorporating AI services into messaging platforms is undoubtedly advantageous.” He points out that the operators of communication-centric platforms, such as Tencent, Meta, and Line, are experiencing robust growth as a result.
Meta oversees WhatsApp, a multinational messaging service, while Tencent and Line dominate in China and Japan, respectively, with WeChat and Line. These platforms are evolving beyond mere messaging capabilities into realms of payments, shopping, customer service, and now AI-powered functionalities that cater to users’ everyday needs.
Tencent has recently embedded its chatbot, Yuanbao, into WeChat, enabling users in China to engage with the AI service seamlessly, without the necessity of downloading an additional app. This AI chatbot allows WeChat users to search documents, generate content, and participate in immersive conversations directly within the messaging platform. As a result, users are spending more time on China’s most widely-used app, which already encompasses social media, messaging, short videos, payments, e-commerce, and ride-hailing.
Meta has also rolled out its AI chatbot across WhatsApp, offering features such as image generation, chat summaries, and voice-activated conversations. Meanwhile, Japan’s Line, owned by LY Corp., has introduced its own AI assistant based on ChatGPT. Analysts suggest that AI is addressing a long-standing challenge for super apps: their complexity. By streamlining navigation and enhancing accessibility to features, AI agents are significantly improving user engagement and overall usability.
Local Players Enter the Fray
Other major players in Korea are also entering the AI super-app arena. Fintech company Viva Republica is broadening the scope of Toss, initially a money-transfer service, into a comprehensive lifestyle platform that now includes basic messaging functionalities. E-commerce giant Coupang Inc. is leveraging AI to expand beyond its signature “Rocket Delivery” service into new sectors such as travel and food delivery.
An industry executive remarked, “Messaging apps are branching out into shopping and finance, while shopping and finance platforms are venturing into messaging.” The competition for super-app supremacy is poised to intensify as advanced AI agents become more prevalent.
Write to Eun-Yi Ko at koko@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.
