The South Korean company Naver launches generative AI services in a bid to compete with ChatGPT

It has invested a total of 1 trillion Korean won in AI research and development in the last three to four years, according to Naver’s CEO.

It joins OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bard, Meta’s Llama, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen, and Baidu’s Ernie Bot, among others, in a market that already includes OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bard, Meta’s Llama, and Baidu’s Ernie Bot.

In a bid to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, South Korean internet giant Naver released its own generative artificial intelligence tool on Thursday.

As the operator of the country’s top search engine, Naver is often referred to as the Google of South Korea. For advertisers and users, HyperClova X’s large language model can improve search, marketing, and shopping experiences.

Naver announced Thursday that HyperClova X powers a slate of new applications including generative AI search service Cue: and chat app Clova X.

Naver said Clova X can boost work productivity by summarizing documents and translating languages. Users can also draft emails and blog posts using its AI writing tool. Thursday will mark the start of beta testing for Clova X, according to Naver.

According to Kim Yuwon, CEO of Naver Cloud, this will save 10% to 50% of time spent on those tasks.

AI boom led by ChatGPT – a chatbot that generates humanlike responses to user prompts – has sparked clones around the world, such as Microsoft’s Bard, Meta’s Llama, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen, and Baidu’s Ernie Bot.

There is no doubt that ChatGPT is a very challenging competitor. “I think it’s an honest confession that we worked hard to keep up with ChatGPT’s capabilities.” said Kim.

To improve our ability to understand and respond to the user’s intentions, we tried to improve our understanding and response capabilities. Our Korean proficiency is HyperClova’s competitive edge, but we have worked on improving other language capabilities, such as English, to keep up with global competitors.”

After the announcement, Naver’s Korea-listed shares jumped 6.03%.

Lim, a senior research analyst at Dalton Investments, said Naver is “still behind” other global players.