Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Naver launches hyperscale generative AI to counter ChatGPT
Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon introduces the company's hyperscale AI HyperCLOVA X and related services during Team Naver DAN 23 conference, held at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas hotel in southern Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Naver
By Baek Byung-yeul
Korean tech giant to open new mega data center to accelerate analyzing capabilities
By Baek Byung-yeul
Naver will offer enhanced and customized AI services for both general users and business customers based on its hyperscale AI platform, HyperCLOVA X, to counter prominent generative AI services such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, according to the CEO of the Korean IT giant, Thursday.
“From the dawn of the internet era to the present, we've been asked similar questions, but we've only grown stronger by focusing on improving our technology and our users and have proved our capabilities. The same thing will happen in the era of generative AI,” Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, said during the company's Team Naver DAN 23 conference in Seoul.
The CEO said that the company has been working on developing its own hyperscale AI platform since before the term generative AI was coined, and in 2021, it developed HyperCLOVA, the world's third hyperscale AI-powered large language model (LLM). And now, the company will solidify its competitiveness in the AI era, with AI services based on HyperCLOVA X, an upgraded version of HyperCLOVA.
“We have been offering various vertical services and they are precious assets, but users may feel confused due to too much information and too many choices. I am confident that HyperCLOVA X can transform these experiences. You will see examples in each of our services, from shopping to booking to advertising,” Choi said.
“Our decades of experience in understanding users, service operation know-how and technical capabilities, all provide a strong foundation for the competitiveness of HyperCLOVA X, the backbone model for generative AI,” the CEO added.
Choi also introduced HyperCLOVA X-based services such as CLOVA X, a conversational AI service, and Cue:, a generative AI search service, adding that the CLOVA X service will be available to the public from 4 p.m., Thursday.
The CEO said AI services powered by HyperCLOVA X will not only be available to general users, but also creative tools such as making computer code and writing for business customers, which will allow companies to utilize it as an innovative tool to lower costs and increase productivity.
“Many organizations want to adopt AI, but they are facing difficulties such as costs and a lack of security management personnel. We have built a diverse lineup based on HyperCLOVA X, including technologies that allow companies to have their own customized AI service. We believe that more companies will be able to secure AI solutions that meet their needs, and in the end, this will help Korea expand its AI ecosystem,” Choi said.
The CEO mentioned that its internet data center, Gak Chuncheon, in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, has never had an accident so far, and is yet another competitive strength of Naver's generative AI. To further improve its competitiveness, Naver will open another data center, Gak Sejong, in Sejong, some 120 kilometers south of Seoul, in November.
“Gak Sejong is six times larger than the Gak Chuncheon data center and can accommodate more than 600,000 units of servers. Beyond data storage, it will serve as Naver's AI brain center,” she said.
During the DAN 23 conference, tech leaders of Naver introduced more details about its AI services based on its HyperCLOVA X platform.
Nako Sung, head of Technology at Naver Cloud, introduced how HyperCLOVA X will change the way users live and work, and Kim Young-bum, chief scientist at Naver, and Choi Jae-ho, senior director of AiRSearch at Naver, talked about how the search service with Cue: will make search more convenient for users.