Kakao unveils Kanana Space AI assistant and Canvas agent platform

At the ‘if kakao 2026’ developer conference, Kakao unveiled its new AI strategy centered on integrating intelligent agents directly into the KakaoTalk ecosystem. The company introduced ‘Kanana Space’, an AI assistant accessible within the KakaoTalk interface via voice or text commands. This service is designed to manage messages, schedules, and web searches, with future plans to handle commerce-related tasks such as ordering, gifting, and remittances.

Kakao also revealed ‘Canvas’, a PC-based service that allows users to build and deploy their own personalized AI agents by combining various tools and functions. To support an open ecosystem, Kakao is building a platform where external companies and individual developers can register specialized AI agents and tools. This initiative involves a consortium of 34 partners, including LG Uplus and LG AI Research, to provide diverse expertise ranging from GPU optimization to specialized medical data.

Technically, Kakao plans to utilize a hybrid model approach, using on-device models for simple smartphone requests and connecting to large-scale models for complex tasks. The company also emphasized its commitment to AI reliability and responsibility, focusing on technical verification and governance to ensure safe and trustworthy service deployment.