The Korea Times
Upstage, a Korea-based artificial intelligence (AI) company, has finalized its acquisition of AXZ, the operator of the long-running internet portal Daum, in a move that signals an ambitious attempt to remake one of the country’s most established online gateways into an AI-driven platform. The company said Thursday it completed the deal after signing a final agreement with Kakao, AXZ’s parent company, following roughly four months of due diligence. The transaction follows a memorandum of understanding reached in January under which Kakao transferred its entire stake in AXZ to Upstage in exchange for equity in the AI firm, according to the companies. Upstage said it plans to integrate its large language model, known as “Solar,” with Daum’s search engine and extensive content database to build what it described as a next-generation AI portal. The company said the goal is to move beyond keyword-based search toward what it called “context AI,” a system designed to interpret user intent and deliver direct, synthesized responses rather than lists of links. “Combining Upstage’s
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