Naver and Kakao plan to accelerate monetisation of artificial intelligence services in the second half, after strong first-quarter results. Kakao is expanding AI features in KakaoTalk that proactively suggest information based on chat context and is testing agent commerce tied to gifting and external partners. Naver is strengthening action-oriented AI that links personalised search answers to shopping, orders and reservations, aiming for monetisation in later quarters through ads and higher conversion.

Kakao posted its highest first-quarter sales and operating profit on strong platform growth and efficiency gains, and said it will shift KakaoTalk into an agentic AI platform. The company reported a 11 percent rise in revenue and a 66 percent jump in operating profit. Kakao outlined plans for its Kanana models, service rollouts including Kanana in KakaoTalk, and early agent-commerce tests with partners, while noting some second-quarter cost headwinds.