Inticube Aims to Launch AI Character Platform 'Who Chu' in September… Targeting the Relationship AI Market with Content IP

Inticube (070590) announced on August 6 that it is developing its next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) character platform ‘Who Chu’, and will make a full-scale entry into the Relationship AI market with an official launch scheduled for September.

The generative AI market is rapidly expanding beyond simple Q&A or productivity-focused services to the Relationship AI sector, where users maintain ongoing communication and emotional bonds with AI. Global market research firms predict that the autonomous AI agent and AI character sectors will experience strong growth over the next few years, expanding into markets worth tens of trillions of won.

Interest in AI character services is growing in South Korea as well. A new AI service market is emerging, driven by long user retention and high loyalty, and this trend is attracting increasing attention from both domestic and international investors.

Who Chu, the new platform introduced by Inticube, differentiates itself from existing AI character services by focusing on ‘friendship’ as its core value, aiming to become an AI companion platform. Unlike current services that revolve around proprietary characters or offer so-called ‘virtual romance’ experiences, the goal is to implement an ‘AI friend’ who shares worries and hobbies in a user’s everyday life.

The company expects that, amid growing demand for emotional connection due to the rise of single-person households and social isolation, its approachable AI friend will provide users with psychological reassurance and a sense of social connection.

To deliver this service, Inticube is actively utilizing content intellectual property (IP). The company’s strategy is to combine AI with content IP that already enjoys widespread popularity and fandom, thereby reducing the initial psychological distance users feel toward AI companions.

Currently, Inticube is negotiating content IP acquisitions with domestic and international companies across various fields—including drama, animation, virtual idols, gaming, and webtoons. As agreements are finalized, each IP will be incorporated into the service in sequence.

Through this approach, users will be able to naturally converse and form long-term relationships with their favorite characters or personalities within unique story universes, creating a new kind of AI experience. By leveraging familiar characters, the company aims to lower barriers to entry and make user interactions with the AI service more approachable and friendly.

According to Inticube, this fandom-based IP strategy is expected to not only reduce the cost of acquiring initial customers, but also to improve both user retention and conversion rates. The company believes that the existing high engagement and familiarity of fandom communities will translate into long-term usage of AI services.

Technological competitiveness is another strength highlighted by the company. Inticube has built IP-based contact centers (IPCC) and AI-based contact centers (AICC) for over 200 organizations, including financial institutions, public agencies, and large enterprises. Through this, it has accumulated a broad range of enterprise AI technologies, including natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition (STT), speech synthesis (TTS), dialogue management, and generative AI-based consultation systems.

These technologies will be incorporated into Who Chu, which is planned to evolve into a multimodal AI platform offering not only text conversations, but also character voices, emotional expressions, and long-term memory-based personalization. The AI is designed to deepen its relationship with the user through ongoing conversations, learning personal preferences, interests, and habits for more natural and meaningful interactions.

A company representative stated, “We believe the Relationship AI market will be among the fastest growing sectors within the generative AI industry. Inticube’s goal is not simply to provide AI technology, but to create AI friends that people want to spend time with for the long term.”

The representative added, “Who Chu will be an AI companion platform where fans can naturally become friends with characters based on content IPs they love, and share a wide range of everyday stories. We aim to go beyond just connecting AI technology and the content industry, and develop a new platform where people and AI can build lasting relationships.”

Inticube plans to launch the official Who Chu service in September, and will continuously expand its content IPs and enhance its features to enter not only the Korean market, but also the global Relationship AI market.

Who Chu is significant in that it aims to capture the Relationship AI market by combining content IP with enterprise-level AI technology, creating a platform where users can form long-term relationships with AI companions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.