"Whenever you need ideas in a chat room or have to plan a trip, you can simply press a button and use it right away."

On October 28, Kakao officially launched 'ChatGPT for Kakao,' developed in collaboration with OpenAI. A new 'ChatGPT' button has been added to the top of the KakaoTalk chat tab, allowing users to ask questions or make requests to the artificial intelligence (AI) just as they would send messages to friends. Rather than simply adding a new feature, Kakao aims to evolve conversational AI into an 'everyday AI' by integrating it into the KakaoTalk lifestyle platform.

Kakao has launched 'ChatGPT for Kakao,' which allows users to access OpenAI's ChatGPT directly from the KakaoTalk chat tab. Through 'Kakao Tools,' integrated with Kakao services, users can utilize various functions such as reservations, gifting, and map searches within the chat. Photo by Kakao

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On the demonstration day for 'ChatGPT for Kakao,' Yoo Yongha, Kakao AI Agent Platform Performance Leader, stated, "A new era has begun where anyone can easily utilize AI within KakaoTalk."

This initiative combines Kakao's large-scale platform and domestic lifestyle service ecosystem with OpenAI's latest model, aiming to expand AI as an 'everyday assistant.' It can be used with just a Kakao account, without the need for a separate app launch or login.

ChatGPT for Kakao goes beyond simple conversation features, focusing on integration across the entire Kakao ecosystem. The core of this is 'Kakao Tools.' When users ask ChatGPT a question, it acts as an AI agent that automatically connects to relevant Kakao services and presents the results. For example, if a user enters "Recommend a Thai restaurant near Hongdae," ChatGPT will call up KakaoMap to display nearby restaurants. If the user then selects 'Make a Reservation,' the screen will automatically switch to KakaoTalk's reservation page, allowing the reservation to be completed without switching apps.

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Initially, Kakao plans to integrate with major services such as KakaoMap, KakaoTalk Reservations, KakaoTalk Gift, and Melon, and later expand the ecosystem through collaborations with external partners. The goal is to provide a complete user experience (UX) that leads not just to search-based chatbot interactions but to real actions such as reservations, purchases, and sharing.

The service is also specialized for 'chat sharing,' a core feature of KakaoTalk. Users can instantly share ChatGPT-generated answers, images, and summaries directly in KakaoTalk chat rooms, making it useful for sharing meeting ideas or coordinating schedules. Yoo explained, "While chatting with friends or colleagues, you can say, 'Let's ask ChatGPT about this,' and instantly share the answer."

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Another Kakao AI project, 'Kanana in KakaoTalk,' is also expected to create synergy. Kanana is an on-device AI service that understands KakaoTalk conversations and proactively suggests relevant information based on the context.

Kakao is currently conducting beta testing based on its self-developed Korean language-specialized model 'Kanana Nano,' with an official launch targeted for the first quarter of next year. Since this model operates on the device rather than on external servers, it poses less risk of personal information leakage and is said to surpass global models in understanding Korean context.

To celebrate this launch, Kakao is offering a ChatGPT Plus paid subscription promotion. Users who newly subscribe to ChatGPT Plus within KakaoTalk and maintain their subscription through the third month's payment will receive a one-month subscription fee cashback.

Meanwhile, this update does not include the restoration of the Friends tab, which was met with strong backlash from users during the major update in September. Kakao stated, "We are preparing to have the friends list displayed first, and the update is scheduled for the fourth quarter."