KakaoTalk Overhaul Adds ChatGPT, Message Editing

KakaoTalk, the nation’s mobile messenger, is undergoing a major overhaul 15 years after its launch. Users will be able to edit messages they have already sent in chat rooms starting from the afternoon of the 23rd after updating KakaoTalk, and the voice call service ‘Voice Talk’ will also be able to record and summarize conversations. Starting next month, KakaoTalk will be equipped with ChatGPT, allowing users to utilize ChatGPT without closing the app. In the future, KakaoTalk will also send ‘preemptive messages’ that understand the context of users’ conversations and proactively suggest reservations, schedule management, and shopping when needed.

Chung Shin-a, a representative of Kakao, said at the developer event ‘if Kakao,’ held at Kakao’s AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, under the theme ‘Possibility, Becoming Daily Life,’ “KakaoTalk will serve as an innovation window transitioning from the mobile era to the AI era.” He added, “The phrase ‘KakaoTalk it’ will now go beyond simply meaning ‘send a message’ and will be interpreted as a new meaning of experiencing a bigger world through Kakao AI.”

◇ Messages Editable Within 24 Hours·Chats Classifiable by ‘Friends’ or ‘Work’

The changes applied from today include message editing, Voice Talk call recording, text conversion, AI summarization, and search functions. Previously, users had to delete and resend messages to edit them, but now they can freely edit messages within 24 hours. However, once the recipient reads the message, edits are possible but a modification mark remains. Kakao gained positive feedback in August when it expanded the message deletion function from 5 minutes to within 24 hours.

The ‘Chat Folder’ feature, introduced in the ‘Chats Tab,’ allows users to classify chat rooms by creating custom groups. For example, chats can be categorized into up to 10 groups such as friends, work, or hobby clubs. The ‘Unread’ folder in the Chats Tab now allows users to swipe down to view unread messages and also introduces an AI summary of unread chat room messages.

The ‘Friends Tab’ of KakaoTalk has shifted from a phonebook-style list to a feed format to increase user engagement. Like Instagram, users can view friends’ daily lives, photos, and posts at a glance. Users no longer need to click on individual friend profiles to check profile changes or posts, as these are displayed in a timeline format. When users update their profile photos, status messages, countdowns, or posts, they appear in a grid feed on their profile home.

KakaoTalk’s ‘Open Chat Tab’ has been changed to the ‘Now Tab,’ where users can access short-form videos and open chats. Users can scroll through various short-form videos and share them instantly with friends, or communicate while watching videos together in chat rooms. The ‘Open Chat Community,’ introduced in Open Chat, allows users to view trending conversations in a feed without entering individual chat rooms. A comment feature has also been added.

◇ ChatGPT-5 Integration·Context-Aware Preemptive Messages

KakaoTalk is integrating numerous AI features. The most significant change is the introduction of ChatGPT, jointly developed with OpenAI since February. Kakao will place a ‘ChatGPT’ icon at the top of the Chats Tab, allowing users to easily access generative AI functions, similar to how they start conversations by clicking on relevant chat rooms. Users can share conversations and generated content with ChatGPT directly in chat rooms. Unlike existing ChatGPT, this version is linked to Kakao’s existing services such as gifting, KakaoMap, Melon, and reservations. The version applied is the latest, ChatGPT-5. Users cannot ask unlimited questions; they are restricted to OpenAI’s free usage limits, according to the company.

Kakao also announced changes incorporating its in-house AI technology and service, Kanana. Utilizing the on-device (embedded) AI model ‘Kanana Nano,’ KakaoTalk will understand the context of conversations on its own and send messages suggesting activities such as schedule management, reservations, purchases, and knowledge searches to users. For example, if users are discussing a visit to Lotte World with a friend, the app will send a separate notification with contextually relevant information on how to get there or purchase tickets, instead of displaying it in the chat window. Alternatively, if users discuss restaurant reservations with a friend, the app will send a reminder on the day of the appointment. The ‘Kanana in KakaoTalk’ feature will be available for beta testing on the Kanana website starting today, and selected users will be able to experience it from mid-next month.

The ‘#’ search, previously linked to the Daum portal search, will be replaced with the AI ‘Kanana Search.’ This feature automatically performs related searches when users click on keywords that appear during conversations, even without entering search terms.

◇ KakaoTalk’s Usage Time Declining… Instagram Rising

According to the statistical analysis platform Mobile Index, KakaoTalk’s average monthly usage time per person was 674 minutes as of August 2025, while Instagram’s average monthly usage time per person was 998 minutes. Although KakaoTalk recorded 826 minutes as of March 2022, it has been on a downward trend, with 769 minutes in March 2023 and 731 minutes in March 2024. In contrast, Instagram’s average monthly usage time has been increasing, from 578 minutes in March 2022 to 716 minutes in March 2023 and 882 minutes in March 2024.

Representative Chung said during the second-quarter earnings announcement this year, “We expect a natural inflow of users when they encounter ChatGPT through methods like sharing search results during chats with friends.”