By Kwanwoo Jun
South Korean technology giant Kakao is teaming up with Google to advance its artificial-intelligence services, a year after announcing a similar partnership with OpenAI.
Kakao will begin the partnership by collaborating with Google's Android team to enhance its on-device AI services, Chief Executive Chung Shin-a said Thursday on an earnings call.
Chung said Kakao will continue to strengthen its existing partnership with OpenAI, whose ChatGPT services have already been integrated into its Korean messaging app, KakaoTalk.
During the earnings call, Kakao executives forecast strong AI-driven growth this year after the company posted record revenue and operating profit in 2025.
Kakao's embedded AI tools, including a homegrown AI agent Kanana and ChatGPT, boosted time spent by users on its platforms, they said.
The company aims to grow its revenue by more than 10% in 2026, targeting a 10% operating margin.
Kakao's revenue rose 2.9% to a record 8.099 trillion won, equivalent to $5.60 billion, in 2025. Annual operating profit jumped 59% to 732.04 billion won, also a record.
Kakao posted a net profit of 525.72 billion won last year, following a 161.87 billion won net loss in 2024.
Shares in Kakao were recently 0.7% higher in Thursday afternoon trade, paring some of their sharp gains following the results.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 11, 2026 22:32 ET (03:32 GMT)
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