Kim Il-doo, the CEO of Open Research, became the head of Kakao Brain at the age of 33 in 2021. Known as a key figure in the development of Kakao's large language model (LLM) "KoGPT," he garnered much attention and left Kakao Brain in June of last year, as Kakao absorbed and merged with Kakao Brain.
The young artificial intelligence (AI) expert, who had been the focus of attention, chose to start his own business instead of switching jobs. He prepared a base in a shared office in Gangnam, Seoul, with AI personnel from Kakao Brain and teamed up with them.
Open Research attracted $10 billion in initial investment from LB Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Bon Angels Venture Partners. After setting up an office in Pangyo, Open Research officially launched its AI search service "oo.ai" in March and saw its corporate value rise to approximately $200 million within a year of its founding.
oo.ai is characterized by its ability to analyze hundreds of web documents and real-time information from the web based on users' search terms, providing answers in a report format. Kim noted that while it references more than 10 times the number of references compared to competitors, the response time of around 2 seconds is a strength of oo.ai.
Kim said, "Conversational interactions like ChatGPT can be useful in specific scenarios, but they can be inefficient in most search situations. For example, when looking for a meeting place, ChatGPT requires multiple exchanges, but oo.ai allows users to explore various information intuitively with a single search," adding that the blend of natural language and portal user experience (UX) is the core of oo.ai.
He stated, "Ultimately, I want to create a world where anyone can easily resolve necessary tasks by interacting with computers using natural language," and added, "My goal is to build a simple yet powerful portal that even those who are not familiar with IT can intuitively use." Next is a Q&A with Kim.
-Did you have any hesitation when deciding to leave the large company for entrepreneurship?
"I have always thought about starting a business since before I joined Kakao. During my college days, I created a messenger service on my own. It was when messaging apps dominated the top ranks of the app store. At that time, KakaoTalk was a huge success, and I ended up joining Kakao while still in college. I enjoyed working at Kakao, but as the company grew, my influence began to wane. While serving as the head of Kakao Brain, I experienced management, business, and technology, and I judged that it was time to challenge myself at the center of change in AI search, so I decided to start my own business."
-You mentioned that you thought of the name 'Open Research' since your time at Kakao.
"The company name 'Open Research' was a name I personally purchased as a domain in the past. It was the name of a research-sharing site I operated briefly before joining Kakao. It encompasses the meaning of 'open research' and has a dual meaning of exploring new things in an 'open' state. Of course, at that time, I did not buy the domain with the intention of starting a business. However, when I founded the company, I decided on the name Open Research."
-Could you introduce the AI search platform 'oo.ai'?
"oo.ai is an AI search platform that answers questions by referencing more than 10 times the number of existing search engine documents. While it is fast like existing portals, the AI organizes hundreds of documents to provide detailed answers in a report format. Conversational interaction like ChatGPT is also possible, but it was determined that display-based information curation is more efficient in most search scenarios. The platform is characterized by a proper blending of the strengths of search and conversational AI."
-In May, the monthly active users (MAU) surpassed 2 million.
"Currently, we are intentionally adjusting the speed. Initially, the cost per query was in the $1000 range, but we are optimizing it down to the $10 range, and we are continuously reducing costs. Once this foundation stabilizes, we will be able to quickly gather more users. Currently, I believe that the level of product completion is the most important factor for attracting users, rather than advertising. We are also discussing expanding partnerships with domestic platforms in the second half of the year."
-What are the strengths of oo.ai compared to competitors?
"Because it references hundreds of documents, it has high context comprehension and a very low hallucination rate. During the investment demo, we confidently introduced it while displaying a real-time comparison with ChatGPT, Perplexity, and others. Our service is 'free.' A combination of fast speed, high accuracy, and free service is our biggest differentiator."
-10% of users are global, including those from the United States and Japan.
"Without any separate marketing, word of mouth naturally spread in overseas communities, blogs, and Twitter. Japanese users have high revisit rates and provide active feedback. The fact that AI searches are applicable without language barriers positively affects global user acquisition.
-Do you have any plans for monetization in the future?
"First of all, we are preparing curated ads that are appropriate to users' contexts rather than the usual keyword bidding method. We are also considering commerce recommendations that are suitable for the search context as a revenue model. Additionally, we plan to apply a cost-per-sale (CPS) structure in transactions leading to bookings and payments. Our core goal is to reduce AI search costs as much as possible so that the existing portal model can be applied based on AI."
-What is the future of AI search platforms?
"In the long term, there will only be three types of companies left in the AI search platform space: corporations that service LLM themselves, corporations that build AI search portals, and corporations that specialize in AI solutions for specific industries. We aim to grow into an AI search platform centered on portal UX. I want to create an environment where anyone can easily interact with computers using natural language, and maintaining a simple and intuitive usability is of utmost importance, in my opinion."