Korea’s AI Giant Unleashes Generative Power

South Korea’s internet giant Naver has unveiled its own generative artificial intelligence tool, HyperCLOVA X, marking a significant milestone in the country’s AI development. The company’s large language model (LLM) offers services such as a ChatGPT-like AI chatbot, CLOVA X, and a generative AI-based search engine, Cue, equivalent to Microsoft Bing.

Naver’s CLOVA X chatbot is set to revolutionize the way we interact with AI

Naver’s cloud unit, Naver Cloud, launched the HyperCLOVA X, which is available for creators and enterprise customers. HyperCLOVA X is an upgraded version of its previous LLM for the Korean language, called HyperCLOVA, launched in 2021. Naver says HyperCLOVA has more than 204 billion parameters, but it did not disclose how many parameters have been trained on the HyperCLOVA X.

A New Era of AI Development

Naver has more than 500 AI experts on its team and is one of the five companies worldwide that has developed its own large language model with more than 100 billion parameters, CEO of Naver SooYeon Choi said in a letter to shareholders published earlier this week.

Naver’s team of 500 AI experts is driving innovation in the field

Naver Cloud is also developing CLOVA X’s multimodal language models that will be capable of analyzing and generating not only text but images, videos, and audio, Nako Sung, head of Technology and Hyperscale AI at Naver Cloud, said at the company’s conference on Thursday. Naver aims to release the Clova X multimodal language model in the near future, according to Sung.

Global Competition Heats Up

Naver’s generative AI rollout comes as global tech players try to stay ahead of enhancing their own generative AI products. Microsoft-backed OpenAI has sparked competition in the generative AI space. Google launched its AI chatbot Bard and invested in Anthropic and Baidu released Ernie Bot.

The global AI landscape is heating up with major players vying for dominance

Companies like Meta and Amazon are reportedly preparing to release their own AI-powered chatbots. Naver said it has been looking to the regions the competitors have not yet covered to offer tailored AI applications for countries with political sensitivities in the Middle East and non-English speaking countries like Spain and Mexico in addition to South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

Infrastructure Expansion

The Korean internet giant will open its second data center, GAK Sejong, with 600,000 servers in South Korea for its generative AI services in November, Choi said at the conference.

Naver’s new data center will support its growing AI infrastructure

Naver has been working with Samsung to develop AI chips for hyperscale AI since last December.

The Future of AI

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, Naver’s HyperCLOVA X is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of AI development. With its advanced language models and multimodal capabilities, Naver is set to revolutionize the way we interact with AI.

The future of AI is bright, and Naver is leading the charge