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NAVER CEO Choi Soo-yeon participated in the <The Challenge and Future Vision of Korean Companies in the AI Era> panel discussion at the KCCI Jeju Forum hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and shared her insights on recent changes in global AI technologies, and NAVER’s sovereign AI strategies and vision. Here is a summary of the main content.

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Q. What is the recent global perception surrounding AI?

I believe the discussion around AI shifted a lot from performance and the speed of development to its sustainability and usability in businesses.

During a recent meeting with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, we talked about how it would be significant to have AI models that understand local language, culture, and context well—rather than a foreigner-like AI model that can speak different languages naturally—as other countries and companies are thinking about how to penetrate a niche market in the midst of global Big Tech leading the AI technology hegemon. And NAVER calls such an AI model the sovereign AI.

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Q. What is the value of sovereign AI and NAVER’s strategies to compete against big tech companies?

Sovereign AI is the answer to our intense contemplation regarding how NAVER should compete against global Tech Giants and what kind of business we should carry on in the era of AI.

As many of you know, AI generates responses that sound natural based on data it’s trained with and offers those to users through various services as if they are answers. This is where NAVER raised an issue.

Currently, NAVER displays the closest answer to users’ questions that they entered into the search engine at the very top. At the same time, search results include various perspectives and documents for users to select the answer on their own. When the era of AI arrives in the future, most of the time, users will see only one answer selected by AI.

However, there is no one single answer to anything in the world. That is why we need a variety of AI models that understand the historical and cultural contexts of different regions. From this respect, NAVER can contribute to enhancing diversity in the era of AI, where big tech companies hold supremacy, by providing NAVER’s technologies to different countries and agencies. This is something that NAVER has been successful at so far.

Sovereign AI is not a feat that can be achieved by NAVER alone. We know best about what people are curious about and what services they want to use. However, companies and experts in charge of different domains know better than us regarding what problems exist and how to address them. Accordingly, establishing an organic cooperative model with various professionals is a way to seize the chance of victory against fierce competition in the era of AI.

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Q. Which AI sectors or strategies NAVER is focusing on today?

NAVER does not spare effort in investing in R&D and technologies because we have our mission to develop the most suitable LLM for Korean users as an AI company that represents Korea. We opened our second data center GAK Sejong last year in preparation for the huge data and power consumption necessary for developing AI technologies. At the same time, we are trying to identify services and business models that only NAVER can do.

Another part NAVER thinks is important is building an ecosystem. We believe NAVER can develop together when excellent talents study AI, take up challenges, and grow in various sectors across startups, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and academia. We are also thinking about how we can support this.

The most crucial part is services that directly interact with users. AI technologies are already incorporated with the NAVER search, weather, stocks, and news service. They are also integrated with the feed you see on the first page of the NAVER app, showing personalized content that tailors to each individual’s tastes. Using NAVER’s AI technologies, we are going to develop even more convenient services, for example, personal assistant ●