▲ Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a presents strategic plans during the launching ceremony for the AI National Assistant pilot service held at the Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, on the 9th.
Kakao is set to aggressively expand new businesses combining KakaoTalk and artificial intelligence (AI), centered around Kakao AI, which will be launched through a corporate split.
Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a presented a blueprint to achieve 6 trillion won in sales by 2030 by enhancing cost efficiency through on-device AI and intelligent routing technology rather than competing in large-scale AI models, while connecting the agentic AI service "Kanana" with recommendation, reservation, and payment functions within KakaoTalk.
She also stated the principle that 100% of the employment and working conditions of executives and employees will be succeeded following the corporate split.
However, as the Kakao labor union is reviewing collective action in opposition to the split, negotiations between labor and management are expected to emerge as a major task during the upcoming organizational restructuring process.
During a press conference on Kakao's corporate split held today (the 21st), CEO Chung Shin-a explained the roadmap for new AI businesses and the organizational operation policy, stating, "We will create a winning AI game in Kakao's own way."
Kakao AI, led by CEO Chung, will secure approximately 2.3 trillion won in investment capital at the time of the split to fully promote core businesses such as KakaoTalk-based advertising and commerce, and the agentic AI service Kanana.
Regarding the commerce strategy, CEO Chung said, "We will build an environment where users can complete everything from recommendations and reservations to payments in one go without leaving the chat window," adding, "An AI agent that understands conversation context will propose customized products and services, and we will materialize an integrated revenue model directly linked to internal payments on KakaoTalk."
Accordingly, Kakao has set goals to achieve 6 trillion won in sales, a search advertising market share of 5% or more, and 20 million daily active users (DAU) by 2030.
Regarding AI technology development and external cooperation strategies, CEO Chung presented a stance centered on pragmatic small deals rather than excessive large big deals.
CEO Chung explained, "Rather than unconditional competition in giant models, we will build a high-efficiency architecture that reduces inference costs by up to 90% through on-device AI and intelligent routing technology," and added, "We will also agilely pursue external partnerships and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) focused on small deals that can generate practical technological synergies."
Regarding employment anxiety among employees due to the organizational split, the 100% succession principle was clearly stated.
Earlier today, upon the news of the corporate split, the Kakao labor union announced that it would open an open-talk session for union members on the 24th and review collective action on the 26th.
CEO Chung stated, "During the corporate split process, the employment and working conditions of executives and employees will be succeeded as they are, and we will support an environment and compensation system that allows them to focus on the expertise of each business area after the split."
Kakao held a board of directors meeting today and resolved on the corporate split into a newly established entity, Kakao AI, and a surviving entity, Kakao X.
The split ratio is 0.36 for Kakao AI and 0.64 for Kakao X based on the book value of net assets, and existing shareholders will be allocated shares in both companies according to the split ratio.
The company plans to complete the split on January 1 of next year following an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on December 17 of this year, and pursue the re-listing of Kakao AI and the change listing of Kakao X on the 27th of the same month.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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