What is LY Corporation's Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy? In which scenarios (e.g., personalized recommendations, ad delivery, customer service) does it plan to widely apply Generative AI?

Created At: 8/15/2025Updated At: 8/17/2025
Answer (1)

Okay, here's the translation of the answer about LY Corp's AI strategy:

Implementing LY Corporation's (formerly LINE and Yahoo Japan) AI strategy, let me explain it clearly and simply.

LY Corporation's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy: Going Beyond Chat, Integrating into Every Aspect of Your Life

Think of LY Corp as a giant sitting on a massive treasure trove. What's this treasure? It's the enormous amount of data generated by all of us every day through using LINE for chatting, reading LINE NEWS, searching, shopping, checking the weather on Yahoo! JAPAN, and more. Their core strategy now is to leverage these treasures using a super-powerful, in-house developed "AI brain" to unlock even greater value.

Core Strategy: Building Their Own "AI Brain," Not Renting Someone Else's

Many companies use AI today, often leveraging models like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's AI models. But LY Corp's approach is different and more ambitious: its core focus is building a top-tier, proprietary AI foundation model specifically tailored for the Japanese language and culture.

This approach has several clear advantages:

  1. More "In Tune" (More Grounded): This AI brain is trained from the ground up with Japanese language and user habits, meaning it can better understand Japan's unique culture, internet slang, and complex honorific systems. When answering questions or providing services, it won't suffer from "a lack of cultural fit."
  2. Enhanced Data Security: Users' valuable data stays "onshore," trained and processed within LY Corp's own servers. This significantly improves privacy and data security for users.
  3. Deeper Integration: Because the AI is developed in-house, it enables "seamless integration" with all LY services like LINE, Yahoo! JAPAN, and PayPay, going far beyond just adding a chat window. It can leverage data across all these apps to deliver cohesive experiences.

Simply put, their strategy is: Leverage massive data advantage -> Feed and nurture a powerful, Japan-optimized "AI brain" -> Then, like plugging into a power grid, connect this brain's capabilities into every single product and service they offer.


Where Does LY Corp Plan to Apply Generative AI on a Massive Scale?

Understanding their strategy, let's see where exactly this "AI brain" will be deployed. This isn't just about slapping on a chatbot; it's about deep integration into every facet of using their services.

1. Your Hyper-Personal "Assistant": Next-Level Personalized Recommendations

  • Current State: You search for "camping tents" on Yahoo Shopping, and it might recommend sleeping bags and folding chairs.
  • Future Scenario: Generative AI takes it much further. It might integrate your chat in LINE about "planning a camping trip to Mt. Fuji next week," your route search on Yahoo Maps to Fuji, and your weather check for the area on Yahoo Weather, then directly generate a "Mt. Fuji Weekend Camping Plan" for you. This plan could include:
    • Recommended Products: Tents and thermal clothing suited to the forecasted weather.
    • Content Recommendations: Directing you to top articles or videos about campgrounds on Mt. Fuji.
    • Itinerary Planning: Generating a simple schedule, even estimating travel time.

See? This moves from "guessing you might like" to "planning it for you."

2. "Tailor-Made" Ads: Moving Beyond Annoying and Generic

  • Current State: The ad system pushes generic phone ads based on your tags (e.g., "30s, male, likes tech").
  • Future Scenario: Generative AI can actually "create" bespoke ads. For example, the system knows you recently searched for "gifts for parents" and viewed massage chairs and premium fruit. It might instantly generate an ad like:
    • Ad Image: Perhaps a warm family picture featuring a massage chair.
    • Ad Copy: "Struggling to find the perfect gift for your parents? This 10,000+ review massage chair is a hit! Order now for guaranteed delivery before Father's Day!"
    • Interactivity: You could ask directly below the ad: "Is this good for someone with back issues?" and the AI would instantly provide a reliable answer.

Ads thus transform from being an "interruption" into genuinely "useful information," boosting both ad effectiveness and user experience.

3. "24/7, Always-On" Super Customer Support

  • Current State: Many customer support bots only handle fixed questions; anything slightly complex prompts a "transfer to a human" message.
  • Future Scenario: Generative AI support based on their in-house large language model will be incredibly robust.
    • Superior Understanding: It will fully grasp complex issues described in natural language, like "I bought a blue dress on Yahoo Shopping last Tuesday, forgot the order number, where is it now? Can you change the delivery to Saturday?"
    • Superior Execution: Connected directly to order and logistics systems, it won't just retrieve the order details, it will directly handle tasks like changing the delivery time. Its response would be natural: "Okay, I've updated delivery for order #xxx to this Saturday. Please be available to receive it."
    • Seamless Agent Handoff: Even in rare cases requiring a human agent, the AI will summarize the entire conversation into a brief note, allowing the human agent to immediately take over without forcing you to repeat the issue.

In Summary

Ultimately, LY Corp is playing the "All-in AI" game. They aren't satisfied with sprinkling AI features onto a single app; they aim to build a foundational AI infrastructure permeating all their services.

In the future, when using Japan's essential apps like LINE, Yahoo, or PayPay, you'll feel they're becoming remarkably "smarter" and "more considerate." Whether helping you spend (shopping recommendations), save (precise ads), or solve problems (super support), a powerful generative AI "brain" will be working diligently in the background.

It's clear LY Corp has huge ambitions. Your online life in Japan will likely be profoundly shaped, touchpoint by touchpoint, by the pervasive presence of this AI "brain."

Created At: 08-15 06:02:25Updated At: 08-15 10:32:25