Kakao partners with Coupang Eats for AI food ordering in KakaoTalk

The deal is Kakao’s first agentic AI service inside KakaoTalk and part of a broader plan to start full-scale AI monetization in 2027 and lift AI to a double-digit share of Talk Biz revenue by 2028.

Summary

Kakao said it will integrate Coupang Eats into KakaoTalk as the first vertical service for its agentic AI, enabling users to receive menu recommendations, place food orders and complete payment inside chat windows without switching apps. CEO Chung Shin-a announced the partnership on the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call on the 6th, saying the service is expected to launch in the near future and will use an on-device AI model to detect delivery intent from conversation context and personal preference data. Kakao presented the move as an early step in a broader AI business strategy that targets full-scale monetization in 2027 and a double-digit share of Talk Biz revenue from AI by 2028, supported by transaction fees, subscriptions and new ad formats. The company said PlayMCP, built on Model Context Protocol, already supports more than 3,400 tools and over 100,000 daily calls and will connect KakaoTalk’s AI agent to outside services across commerce, reservations, travel and payments.

Terms & Concepts
  • Agentic AI: AI systems that can understand user intent and perform tasks or transactions on a user’s behalf rather than only generating responses.
  • PlayMCP: Kakao’s open platform built on its proprietary Model Context Protocol to connect AI models with external tools and services.
  • Talk Biz: Kakao’s KakaoTalk-based business segment, including advertising, commerce and related revenue streams.