[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] The cumulative number of subscribers to “ChatGPT for Kakao,” which allows users to access ChatGPT via KakaoTalk, has surpassed 13 million. Analysts say the service has moved beyond simply acquiring subscribers and has entered a phase focused on increasing user engagement.

Jeong Shin-ah, CEO of Kakao(035720), announced during the Q2 2026 earnings conference call on the 6th, “ChatGPT for Kakao recorded approximately 13 million cumulative subscribers in the second quarter.”

CEO Jeong assessed, “We have moved beyond subscriber acquisition and entered a phase focused on enhancing usability and user engagement.” The average number of messages sent per user per day exceeded six. As of the end of the quarter, the average daily session duration also approached eight minutes.

Kakao recently expanded its features to allow users to summon ChatGPT as a chatbot within KakaoTalk chat rooms, ask questions directly, and share the responses with their chat partners. The company also broadened support to enable the use of ChatGPT for Kakao on PCs.

Kakao plans to drive the service’s adoption by making it convenient to use ChatGPT anywhere within KakaoTalk and by sharing the generated responses in chat rooms. In the second half of the year, the company will continue to enhance image generation and chatbot capabilities to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) services within KakaoTalk.

Meanwhile, Kakao reported consolidated revenue of 2.0985 trillion won and operating profit of 277 billion won for the second quarter of 2026. These figures represent year-over-year increases of 9% and 36%, respectively, marking record highs for both revenue and operating profit on a quarterly basis. The operating profit margin also improved to the 13% range, up approximately 3 percentage points from the same period last year.