Naver, Kakao cut R&D expenses in H1 despite focus on AI

Korean platform giants Naver and Kakao both reduced their R&D expenses in the first half of this year despite their visions to expand their presence in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

According to Naver’s semiannual report published Wednesday, the portal giant spent 898.8 billion won in the first half, down 6.86 percent from 965 billion in the first half of last year.

This is the first time Naver’s first-half R&D expenses have declined since 2020, when the company’s R&D spending began to show sharp growth.

In the first half of 2020, the company spent 621.3 billion won and the amount quickly increased to 965 billion won in the first half of last year as it concentrated its resources on developing AI 커뮤니티 models and services. In the company’s semiannual report, the majority of its completed or ongoing R&D projects since 2020 have been centered around AI.

The situation is similar for Kakao. Its semiannual report showed that the platform giant spent 649.9 billion won on R&D in the first half of this year. The amount grew by 19.3 percent compared to 544.7 billion won in the first half of 2023 but decreased by 4.27 percent compared to the 678.9 billion won in the second half of last year.