Newsletter N°82 - November 2025 

📡AI:​ Kakao Integrates OpenAI’s ChatGPT Into KakaoTalk, Delivering Next-Generation AI Functionality to Everyday Messaging

On the picture: “Meet it directly on Kakaotalk – ChatGPT for Kakao.”

Kakao Corp. announced today the launch of “ChatGPT for Kakao”, a major update that embeds OpenAI’s latest GPT-5 model directly inside KakaoTalk, South Korea’s most widely used messenger app with more than 50 million users.

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The integration represents one of the most advanced examples of a global generative-AI engine being natively merged into a local consumer platform, turning KakaoTalk into an intelligent communication hub that merges language understanding, task automation, and multimodal generation within a single chat interface.

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Seamless AI Access and Real-Time Responses​

With ChatGPT for Kakao, users can now invoke AI assistance instantly inside any chat window—without installing additional apps or logging in separately.

A new ChatGPT icon, positioned at the top of the chat tab, enables users to:

• Ask complex or follow-up questions in natural language

• Summarize conversations, generate text or images, and translate content

• Share AI-generated results directly within chatrooms in real time

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The service supports existing OpenAI accounts, as well as new sign-ins through Kakao IDs, with free-tier usage limits and subscription options aligned with OpenAI’s pricing. A launch promotion grants one-month cashback for users subscribing to ChatGPT Plus for three consecutive months through KakaoTalk.

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Kakao Tools: The Core Integration Framework

At the technical core of this rollout is Kakao Tools, a modular AI-connection layer that allows ChatGPT to execute contextual actions across Kakao’s ecosystem. At launch, Kakao Tools links ChatGPT to:

• Kakao Map — for location searches and navigation

• KakaoTalk Reservations — for booking restaurants or events

• KakaoTalk Gifts — for direct in-chat gifting

• Melon — for music and playlist recommendations

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For instance, if a user asks “Find a croffle café near Hapjeong Station,” ChatGPT triggers Kakao Map to display real-time results. A follow-up like “Book a table and share the location with my friends” automatically links to Kakao Reservations, completing the task inside the same chat interface.

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Dual-AI Architecture: GPT-5 × Kanana Nano

The integration complements Kakao’s proprietary on-device AI model, Kanana Nano, which powers “Kanana in KakaoTalk” an assistant that understands context, schedules, and proactive suggestions.
Together, GPT-5 and Kanana Nano form a dual-AI architecture balancing cloud-based generative intelligence with local processing for privacy, speed, and personalization.

Future upgrades will extend this architecture to voice commands, multimodal image and video generation, and real-time information retrieval via OpenAI APIs.

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Responsible AI and Data Transparency

Kakao emphasized that user trust and transparency remain foundational. Users can control whether their ChatGPT data is stored or used for model training, under Kakao’s and OpenAI’s privacy frameworks that comply with Korean and international standards.

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“Our goal is to make AI practical, safe, and deeply integrated into daily life while keeping KakaoTalk’s simplicity and reliability,” a Kakao spokesperson said.

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Expanding Beyond Messaging

Kakao plans to expand ChatGPT for Kakao to other group services including Kakao Pay, Kakao Mobility, and Kakao Entertainment and open APIs for third-party developers.
A pilot ‘AI Citizen Secretary’ project with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is also underway to connect public services through conversational AI.