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Naver Webtoon Releases AI Chatbot for Webtoon Characters

Naver WEBTOON reported on April 15 that according to its internal analysis, the service's AI chatbot, 'Character Chat,' which allows users to interact with WEBTOON characters, is contributing to increased engagement with original works.

Character Chat was developed in-house by Naver WEBTOON and launched in June 2024. The AI chatbot is trained on each character's personality, speech style, and story details. Since launch, the service has attracted more than 3.35 million users and has facilitated over 70 million messages exchanged between users and AI characters.

Naver WEBTOON's recent analysis focused on users who chatted with Hyo-rim Seol from Star Ginseng Shop and Love from +99 Reinforced Wooden Stick. Results showed a positive impact on content consumption following character interaction.

For users who interacted with Hyo-rim Seol, the number of chapters viewed increased by 97% in the week following the chatbot's release compared to the prior week. The number of readers rose by 29%, paying users by 22%, and revenue by 44%.

Similarly, those who used the chatbot for Love saw a 77% increase in chapters viewed, a 20% rise in readers, a 12% increase in paying users, and a 31% growth in revenue.

According to WEBTOON, the feature also influenced broader app engagement. Over two months, Character Chat users showed higher app usage across multiple metrics: days visited (+8%), days with reading activity (+7%), total number of titles read (+11%), number of new titles read (+32%), chapters read (+8%), and total spending (+4%).

Following these findings, Naver WEBTOON plans to expand Character Chat further to strengthen the integration between AI and its intellectual properties.

Currently, Character Chat is not available in the United States.

Source: Naver Webtoon