Naver and Kakao are competing with different strategies in their artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and service businesses. While Naver is focusing on expanding its hardware infrastructure by building large-scale 'AI factories' in partnership with global companies, Kakao has set out to enhance AI services tailored for general consumers (B2C), centered around its core asset, KakaoTalk.

[Naver Expands Large-Scale 'AI Factories' with NVIDIA and Brookfield]

Based on its core platform businesses such as search, advertising, and commerce—which account for about 56% of total revenue—Naver is accelerating infrastructure investments to secure future growth engines. Industry analysis suggests that proving business performance is critical, even if it means bearing the profitability pressure that comes with large-scale investments.

Specifically, Naver plans to begin building AI infrastructure with a capacity of 55MW (megawatts) in the first half of 2027, expanding it to 100MW by the end of the same year and to 200MW by 2028. In the mid-to-long term, the company aims to establish gigawatt (GW)-scale infrastructure.

To achieve this, Naver has secured a stable supply of GPUs through a strategic partnership with NVIDIA and established a structure to alleviate its financial burden by utilizing a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be set up by Brookfield. Naver expects to generate related revenue starting in the first half of next year. Alongside expanding its domestic infrastructure, the company is also exploring various avenues to enter overseas markets, focusing on countries that prioritize data sovereignty, including those in the Middle East and South America.

[Kakao Focuses on KakaoTalk-Based 'B2C AI Services']

In contrast, Kakao has chosen a strategy of concentrating its capabilities on AI model and service development rather than making massive infrastructure investments, taking into account the characteristic of rapid generational turnover in hardware equipment such as GPUs and AI servers. The company is focusing on creating new value and enhancing user experience by integrating AI into KakaoTalk.

As part of this strategy, Kakao recently announced a collaboration with the delivery app Coupang Eats. It is planning a one-stop service that utilizes the AI embedded in KakaoTalk, allowing users to receive food delivery recommendations and handle everything from ordering to payment within the app. Through this, Coupang Eats aims to secure access to KakaoTalk's user base of 50 million, while Kakao aims to increase the completeness of its platform.

In addition, Kakao is introducing various AI services by partnering with OpenAI to make ChatGPT available on KakaoTalk and embedding its own proprietary AI, 'Kanana.' The industry believes that how sustainably these AI services, naturally integrated into KakaoTalk, are absorbed by users will determine the success of Kakao's future strategy.