South Korea’s leading internet search engine, Naver, will offer customized versions of its latest ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence model to foreign governments concerned about US data control.
Unlike Microsoft and Google’s focus on a universal AI model, Naver is aimed at politically sensitive countries in the Arab world and non-English-speaking countries like Spain and Mexico, where governments seek government policy. He is passionate about developing localized AI applications. A unique AI system customized for your political and cultural background.
“This will be a big business as sovereign AI technology becomes more and more important in data protection,” said Son Nako, Naver’s executive in charge of hyperscale AI development. Train and operate AI.
In an interview with the FT, he likened exporting Naver’s AI models to building nuclear power plants overseas and helping those countries operate, saying the company could sell at a much lower price than Western rivals such as Amazon. Claimed it could be exported. Naver recently signed a preliminary agreement with Saudi Arabia to provide IT services, including AI tools, to help the country transition to a digital economy.
“It’s becoming a new Cold War situation as the U.S. government gains the power to inspect data and information stored in U.S. companies’ cloud systems,” Song said, noting that several countries are He pointed out that many people are reluctant to use cloud and AI systems. security concerns.
But experts warned that Naver may be overly optimistic about selling its AI systems abroad, given its past failures to bring its search engine abroad despite its dominance in the Korean market.
“Naver’s AI algorithms are not standardized and are too customized for Korean services, unlike Google, for example,” said Wi Jong-hyun, a business professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul. “It will not be easy to apply the system to other countries, and it will require a huge amount of money and manpower to customize it for each country, and I don’t think Naver is ready for that yet.”
Naver says it will continue to prioritize its domestic market for HyperClova X, an AI upgrade to its existing ChatGPT-like platform due to launch this summer. This is used to improve our own search and shopping services while providing a customized version for your business.
“It’s about eight months behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT in terms of technology, but it’s far superior to ChatGPT in terms of Korean service,” Sung said.
“At the moment we are clearly focused on South Korea and Japan, but we are also looking at more overseas markets as localization is key in the AI race,” he added.
South Korea is one of the few countries where Google’s search engine has failed to dominate. According to Statista, Naver has a 61% market share, compared to Google’s 29%.
However, the company is likely to face increasing competition in Korean AI services now, such as Google choosing Korean and Japanese as the first foreign language services for its AI-based chatbot Bard.
“Right now, we face a bigger threat from Google’s Bard in our major markets,” Sung admitted.
The South Korean company also has other profitable business units, such as the LINE messaging and service app, which operates webtoons and a popular entertainment platform for K-pop fans.
The company is at the forefront of South Korea’s efforts to develop an AI ecosystem, with its HyperClova AI model developed in 2021 being used for various services since last year.
Naver is also working with Samsung Electronics to develop AI-optimized chips, and the South Korean government is keen to develop this technology as the country’s next growth engine, backed by its semiconductor strengths and well-developed IT infrastructure. Be enthusiastic.
