South Korean internet giant Kakao has announced a partnership with OpenAI to embed the ChatGPT chatbot into its messaging app, KakaoTalk. The integration aims to provide seamless AI-powered chat services to nearly 50 million South Korean users, enhancing user engagement within the app, according to Seoul Economy Daily and Edaily.
KakaoTalk, South Korea's leading free messaging platform, will soon feature ChatGPT directly within its "Chat" tab, allowing users to interact with the AI without exiting the app. The step forms part of Kakao's broader strategy to become an AI-centric firm through collaboration with OpenAI, a prominent player in the artificial intelligence field.
The integration is expected to boost user retention and the amount of time users spend on KakaoTalk. Kakao is also exploring the use of ChatGPT in its "hashtag search" function within chatrooms, aiming to combine OpenAI's model with its own large language model, Kanana, to deliver more refined search results. Industry experts suggest that the partnership reflects both companies' intentions to capture market share in the expanding AI-driven search and communication services sector.
Kakao plans to reveal detailed information about the collaboration at its developer conference, if(kakao)25, scheduled for September 23, 2025. Shina Chung, Kakao's CEO, indicated during the second-quarter 2025 financial briefing that the actual product derived from the OpenAI partnership would be publicly demonstrated at the event. She further noted that users would have chances to try the service personally before the company's next earnings report, prompting speculation that ChatGPT features may become available to KakaoTalk users as early as November 2025.
According to data from IGAWorks Mobile Index, a South Korean analytics firm, there were approximately 740,000 new installations of ChatGPT in the country during August 2025. KakaoTalk's monthly active users totaled around 49.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, covering over 90% of South Korea's population, underscoring the platform's dominant position in the domestic market.
Article edited by Jack Wu
