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Forbes
04-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
A First Look At How Kakao CEO Shina Chung Is Using OpenAI Tech To Reinvent The Korean Internet Giant In Forbes Asia's July Issue
Shina Chung, CEO of Kakao Forbes Asia July 2025 cover T he tumultuous times we live in pose a stress test for leaders across the spectrum. Those helming businesses are required to make a crucial call about staying the course amid uncertainty or forging a brave, new path. The protagonist of this issue's cover story, Shina Chung, CEO of Korean internet giant Kakao, opted for the latter. Just over a year into her current assignment, Chung is going all-in on AI, through a landmark alliance with OpenAI, to provide a catalyst for Kakao's growth. The company is gearing up to offer the next generation of virtual assistants later this year to the 49 million users of its superapp KakaoTalk. Senior editor John Kang, who met Chung at her office in South Korea's tech hub of Pangyo, narrates how this could be a game-changer for the company. Isidro Consunji, President and CEO of DMCI Holdings. Courtesy of DMCI Holdings Change has been a constant in the five-decades-plus career of Isidro Consunji, a widely respected industrialist in the Philippines. His profile by Ian Sayson and Jonathan Burgos recounts how this second-generation heir took his family's construction business to the next level by scooping up troubled companies—from a coal miner to a power producer—and turning them around. At age 76, Consunji's taken on yet another challenge with the $660 million acquisition by his DMCI Holdings of Mexican giant Cemex's money-losing cement unit in the Philippines. Another highlight of this edition is the inaugural list of the World's 50 Richest Self-Made Women. The largest number in this group—24—hail from Asia-Pacific, of which 18 are from China (including Hong Kong.) However, despite the increasing numbers of women entrepreneurs, the world's 50 richest self-made men are collectively worth 14 times as much as their female counterparts. The wealthy in Thailand are showcased in our annual list of the nation's 50 richest, compiled this year by contributing editor Phisanu Phromchanya. Amid tariff and political turmoil, their net worth got a gravity-defying, double-digit boost with the top three notching the biggest wealth gains. The Global 2000 2025 Jisu Choi for Forbes An annual exercise of note is the Forbes Global 2000, a roster of the world's largest public companies, now in its 23rd year. There are a total of 765 Asia-Pacific companies among them, with China (including Hong Kong) leading the group. Significantly, all four metrics—sales, profits, assets and market value—used to rank these 2,000 companies are higher this year despite global uncertainties. Their leaders, undoubtedly, have made the right calls. As always, comments welcome at executiveeditor@
Forbes
03-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Korean Internet Giant Kakao Teams With OpenAI To Jumpstart Growth
S triding purposefully across the stage at a packed media briefing held in Seoul in early February, Shina Chung, CEO of Korean internet giant Kakao, leaned in to greet OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman. After six months of negotiations, the two companies had just sealed a partnership that would give Kakao (market cap: $20 billion) access to the American AI titan's powerful technology. As Chung declared on stage, it could potentially turn 'all imaginable AI-era services into reality'—and give Kakao a fighting chance to leapfrog the competition. With OpenAI's help, Kakao hopes to realize its ambitions of being at the forefront of providing hyper-personalized services to the 49 million users of its ubiquitous superapp KakaoTalk, which equals about 94% of the country's population. Chung is targeting a November rollout of so-called AI agents—next generation virtual assistants that can go beyond answering basic questions to making decisions and even taking actions on behalf of users. Shina Chung, CEO of Kakao Jaehyun Kim For Forbes ASIA 'We needed a partner we could trust, especially one who leads the field in performance and innovation,' says Chung in an exclusive interview with Forbes Asia at Kakao's office in Pangyo, South Korea's Silicon Valley, just south of Seoul. 'We had the same philosophy.' For Kakao and its first woman CEO, the OpenAI alliance could be nothing less than a game-changer. Since taking the top job in March 2024, Chung's biggest challenge is to steer the company through the longest stretch of sluggish sales in its 15-year history. The 50-year-old Chung, who featured on Forbes Asia 's Power Businesswomen list last year, is betting that going all-in on AI will be a catalyst for growth. 'We are now preparing to significantly change KakaoTalk so that AI can penetrate its many services,' she says. The collaboration isn't a one-way deal. For OpenAI, it offers an opportunity to further its global ambitions by providing access to one of the world's most tech-savvy markets, which has the highest number of paying subscribers outside the U.S. for ChatGPT, its revolutionary chatbot. 'We're excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao's millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao's users communicate and connect,' says OpenAI's chief product officer Kevin Weil by email. Just the day before the glad-handing event with Chung, Altman was in Tokyo with SoftBank's billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, announcing a new joint venture to market AI services to Japanese companies. SoftBank recently led a $40 billion funding round in OpenAI and the two companies are also partners in the $500 billion Stargate project to build AI data centers in the U.S. Shina Chung and Sam Altman are hoping for a win-win. Courtesy of Kakao Corp. It's a critical turning point for Kakao. The company's business is dependent on the Korean market—compared with blue-chip stalwarts like Samsung and Hyundai whose fortunes are determined by global exports—which faces a deepening economic slump. The country's GDP contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter amid the threat of a global trade war, weak consumer spending and months of political turmoil. In 2024 the company narrowed its net loss to 161.9 billion won ($119.4 million) from 1.82 trillion won the previous year, on a 4% uptick in revenue to 7.87 trillion won. The alliance with OpenAI could yield as much as double-digit sales growth within two years, according to Kakao as it transforms itself into a company where AI is at the core of its operations and services. One-Stop Shop The Korean internet giant offers everything from taxi-hailing to online banking. Percentages have been rounded. Source: Kakao Chung will need to act fast to hard-bake the fast-evolving tech into Kakao's businesses, which run the gamut of everyday activities, from messaging and online banking to music streaming and taxi-hailing, to gain an edge on its chief rival Naver, South Korea's biggest internet company by revenue (2024: 10.73 trillion won). The Seongnam-based firm is widely seen as being a step ahead of Kakao in the AI race with its large language model (LLM) HyperClova X, launched in 2023 and tailored for the Korean language and culture. Also closing in is a fast-growing crop of local AI native startups. 'The AI agent will automatically do the work for you and life will be so much better even without knowing what AI is.' Already Chung has begun laying the foundation. In mid-June, the company announced a 600-billion-won investment to build a 92,000-square-meter AI data center in Namyangju city, about 25 kilometers from Seoul. The data center—its second after last year's launch of a facility in Ansan with 6 billion gigabytes of data storage capacity—will break ground in 2026 and is slated to open by 2029. B y leveraging OpenAI's LLMs, which undergird ChatGPT, Kakao is developing a suite of services with the aim of getting users to increase their time on the superapp—and spend more money while using it. 'We saw diminishing returns trying to compete in the benchmark tests for the most powerful AI models, so we decided on a more practical approach seeking cost efficiency,' says Chung. OpenAI-powered AI agents have the potential to autonomously plan and take action across Kakao's digital ecosystem, with limited human direction; for example, make a restaurant booking on behalf of a KakaoTalk user, add a calendar reminder, book a taxi and pay for a meal. That stickiness, Chung believes, will result in more ads—one of Kakao's main revenue drivers—reaching users across its chats and channels. 'AI enhances our core business, especially advertising and commerce,' she says. Advertising accounted for 15% of group revenue last year while its commerce unit contributed 11%. Kakao earns commissions of up to 8% per transaction for gifts sent between KakaoTalk users. An average of 600,000 gifts (from chocolate to vitamins to cosmetics and clothes) are exchanged daily, the company says, in the form of mobile vouchers that can be redeemed at participating restaurants and retailers or ordered from the platform's gift shop. 'The advertising business, which currently operates as the main cash cow of internet companies, will undergo dynamic changes with the introduction of AI-based services,' says Jingu Kim, a Seoul-based analyst at Kiwoom Securities. He predicts there will be a rapid uptake in B2C-based subscription plans that include AI agent services. 'In this process, we expect that Kakao will be able to secure sustainable growth and level up its corporate value through its collaboration with OpenAI.' A Kakao Friends store selling character merchandise such as Ryan (the lion) and the radish-in-rabbit clothing Muzi. Getty Images In a dry run with OpenAI's tech in early May, Kakao launched a new standalone messaging app called Kanana for closed beta testing that features AI agents Kana and Nana. Powered by OpenAI's GPT and its own small language model (SLM), it can assist users in personal and group chats by answering questions, summarizing group conversations, setting meeting times for events and sharing updates. Kakao declined to say how much it has spent but discloses that some 400 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, are working on AI projects. 'For everyday-use cases, we don't need to [invest in] a large language model,' says Chung, as that can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to develop. Besides being cheaper to train and run, SLMs are safer to use as they're less likely to provide incorrect answers to user queries, known as hallucinations, while also being more secure, she adds. It doesn't require a network connection to a cloud, which is vulnerable to server breaches. Kakao will use its SLM to perform simple tasks, while relying on OpenAI's powerful LLM to manage more complex, multistep and linked applications across Kakao's ecosystem, says Chung. It's the same strategy used by Apple: simple queries are answered by Siri, powered by Apple's in-house Apple Intelligence LLM, and more complex questions are directed to ChatGPT. 'Everyone was defaulting to GPUs for AI, but does it make sense to use the most expensive chips for small inference tasks?' explains Chung. A taxi operated by Korea Mobility. © 2021 Bloomberg Finance LP The company expects to complete Kanana's closed beta testing in November, around the same time that it plans to launch the OpenAI-Kakao AI agent. 'The virtual assistant will automatically do the work for you and life will be so much better even without knowing what AI is,' says Chung. 'Because now you need to find which app to use, go to the app, take action. With agentic AI it will be seamless.' A longside her tech focus, Chung has been striving to make Kakao leaner. This has involved shedding non-core businesses—the number of affiliates has dropped by a fifth over the past two years to 115 from 147, the company says. Then there's the planned spin-off of Daum, the country's second-largest portal site by daily visitors, which Kakao acquired in 2014. This will allow Chung to concentrate on juicing up other parts of Kakao's portfolio, both domestic and overseas, and in particular its banking, entertainment and digital healthcare services. In June, a joint venture between its internet banking arm Kakao Bank and Thai financial group SCBX, which controls Siam Commercial Bank, received approval from the Thai government to establish a virtual bank in Thailand, making it the first Korean bank to operate in the country in 25 years. Earlier this year Kakao Entertainment announced the global launch of its fan-community app Berriz as Kakao Healthcare forged a partnership with Seoul-based elderly-care startup Caring and expanded into Japan. Flat Line Kakao's quarterly revenue has seen little movement in the past two years. Source: Kakao K akao's sales started to lose steam after peaking at 2 trillion won in the third quarter of 2023. With the company being under pressure to boost revenue and earnings, founder Kim Beom-su embarked on an aggressive expansion of its entertainment portfolio. Kim, who has a 24% stake in Kakao and a net worth of $5.1 billion, made the fateful call to get into a bidding war for K-pop agency SM Entertainment with Korean billionaire Bang Si-hyuk's Hybe, manager of boy band sensation BTS. While Kakao was ultimately successful, snatching a 35% stake in SM for 1.3 trillion won in March 2023, prosecutors alleged that Kim, long-hailed as an internet pioneer, had manipulated SM's stock price to ward off Hybe. Kim, who denied any wrongdoing, was arrested in July 2024 and is currently out on bail awaiting trial. In a statement to Kakao employees at the time, he said: 'The allegations are not true. I have never instructed or condoned any illegal acts.' A crisis 'can be an opportunity for renewal.' During the takeover battle for SM, Chung was running venture capital arm Kakao Ventures and also had a board seat at Kakao. She had made a name for herself as a VC investor with a portfolio that produced four unicorns. To steady the ship, Kakao's board enlisted Chung as CEO last year. 'I saw that period as a turning point for Kakao,' she recalls, adding that a crisis 'can be an opportunity for renewal.' Chung's forward-looking approach was honed over a 25-year career that has included roles at Boston Consulting Group, eBay and Kakao rival Naver. Chung studied French literature at Yonsei University in Seoul (not because she particularly liked French lit, she says, but because back then it was the subject du jour among brainy female students), followed by a master's degree in marketing from the same college and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. Photo by Jaehyun Kim for Forbes Asia In 2014, she joined Kakao Ventures as a partner, becoming its CEO four years later. Her decade-long stint at the VC arm taught her how to deploy 'my imagination with curiosity,' she says. 'For example, the market for most early-stage investments wasn't there yet, so I needed to imagine it.' She did just that with Kakao Ventures' early backing of South Korean AI chipmaker Rebellions, contributing 2 billion won of the 5.5 billion won in seed funding in 2020. Last December, Rebellions became the country's first AI chip unicorn, valued at 1.3 trillion won, equivalent to $1 billion at the time, after it merged with a rival chipmaker owned by Korean billionaire Chey Tae-won's SK Group (Kakao retains a stake). It's not a given that Chung's big tech bet will pay off. There are concerns in the industry that AI agents are more hype than substance, and could struggle to gain traction with users, much like Facebook's metaverse, which saw the social media giant rebrand itself Meta and pour tens of billions of dollars into a virtual world project that has so far flopped. Alongside OpenAI, tech firms Google, Anthropic and Salesforce have debuted AI agents for consumers and businesses but they are nowhere near mainstream. OpenAI is also restricted in its use of personal data collected from Kanana agents, per a government review requested by Kakao over concerns about sharing personal information such as bank account and credit card details. Chat data must be stored in a database controlled by Kakao and can't be used by OpenAI for commercial purposes, the Personal Information Protection Commission ruled. Kakao Pay is accepted at stores throughout South Korea. © 2021 Bloomberg Finance LP For now, a campaign promise by South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung to invest 100 trillion won in AI and introduce measures to support the country's internet giants has led Kakao's previously moribund shares to surge over 85% in the past two months. Investors also piled in over a proposed law that would allow companies in South Korea to issue won stablecoins, with Kakao's listed payments platform Kakao Pay seen as one of the main beneficiaries. Kakao Pay shares rocketed before correcting sharply recently after regulators highlighted the risks associated with stablecoins. Chung's shown the stamina and smarts to meet such challenges and has a secret weapon up her sleeve: imagination. 'It will work very well,' she says. 'Especially when new eras come.' More From Forbes Forbes Korea's Kakao Teams Up With OpenAI To Develop AI Products By Zinnia Lee Forbes Korean Webtoon Publisher Kakao On The Industry's Anti-Piracy Crusade By Rob Salkowitz Forbes South Korea's AI Chip Champion Is Poised To Carve Out Global Niche By John Kang
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HD Hyundai to Spearhead Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding and Maritime Alliance
Hosted the Korea–U.S. Shipbuilding Leaders Forum to lay the groundwork for a strategic shipbuilding and maritime alliance Private-public sector initiatives for Korea-U.S. shipbuilding collaboration take shape—second forum scheduled in the U.S. this October "In awe of the remarkable capability of Korean shipyards. Expanding Korea–U.S. cooperation will be a tremendous opportunity for the U.S. shipbuilding sector" Chung Kisun, Executive Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai: "This is the starting point of a maritime alliance—we must move forward together for the advancement of both nations' shipbuilding industries." SEOUL, South Korea, June 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- HD Hyundai is exploring avenues for mutual cooperation with shipbuilding and maritime experts from Korea and the U.S. HD Hyundai announced on Tuesday, June 24, that it hosted the Korea–U.S. Leaders Forum on Education and Research on Shipbuilding at its Global R&D Center in Pangyo, Korea. The forum was organized as a follow-up to the trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in July last year between HD Hyundai, Seoul National University (SNU), and the University of Michigan (UM) to promote talent development in the shipbuilding industry. Previously, HD Hyundai recognized the U.S. government's strong commitment to revitalizing its shipbuilding industry and expressed its support for efforts to strengthen the sector and bolster national security. In line with this, HD Hyundai partnered with SNU and UM to launch a joint initiative to foster future talent in shipbuilding. Co-hosted by HD Hyundai and Seoul National University, and supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), the forum marks the first since the launch of the new Korean administration in which experts from both countries have gathered to discuss practical avenues for collaboration. As a tangible milestone in public-private cooperation, the event drew considerable attention from industry stakeholders. The forum was attended by distinguished including Andrew Gately, Commercial Minister-Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Korea; Lee Seung-ryeol, Industrial Policy Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; and Chung Kisun, Executive Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai. The forum brought together a panel of leading experts: from Korea, professors representing seven top universities, including SNU and KAIST; and from the U.S., professors from six prestigious institutions, such as UM and MIT. In total, more than 40 shipbuilding and marine engineering specialists participated in the event. The event began with opening remarks by Chung. "This collaboration marks the beginning of a true maritime alliance—one that goes beyond talent exchange to sharing technologies and visions between Korea and the United States," he said. "Let us work together toward the growth and prosperity of both nations' shipbuilding industries." Keynote speeches from both countries followed. Professor David Singer of the University of Michigan, speaking on behalf of the U.S. delegation, remarked, "I find myself in awe of the remarkable capability of Korean shipyards to produce the world's largest and most intricate vessels in record time. Investing in talent is absolutely crucial for rejuvenating the U.S. shipbuilding industry, and the potential for expanding our collaboration with HD Hyundai is an exceptional opportunity we cannot afford to overlook." In the afternoon, the forum continued at SNU, where participating universities and institutions presented their respective curricula in shipbuilding and maritime engineering. The session provided a platform for sharing best practices and exploring joint educational strategies, while also highlighting the importance of binational collaboration in cultivating talent. On the final day of the forum, Wednesday, June 25, discussions will focus on joint research themes, including "Smart Yard" technologies, aimed at digital transformation in shipbuilding. Ahead of the forum, on Monday, June 23, U.S. participants visited HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' headquarters in Ulsan, where they toured both the commercial and naval & special shipyards and were briefed on the company's smart shipyard initiatives and autonomous navigation technologies. The second Korea–U.S. Shipbuilding Leaders Forum is scheduled to take place in the United States in October. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE HD Hyundai Sign in to access your portfolio
