Naver has placed artificial intelligence (AI) search functions at the forefront of its Whale browser. Following the application of the interactive search service 'AI Tab' and an image-based search function, the company plans to add various AI features within this year to connect search with service execution.
According to Naver on the 21st, Whale implemented a beta version update on the 15th, allowing users to directly access the AI Tab from the address bar on the initial screen. This feature, provided to Naver Plus Membership users, enhances the accessibility of the interactive AI search, the AI Tab.
The company also provides a feature in this update where entering an image into Whale prompts the AI Briefing to summarize the search results in the sidebar. This integrates multimodal search, which understands not only text but also images, into the browser. Along with this, it improved memory management efficiency and enhanced the ad-blocking feature.
Whale is a browser developed by Naver based on Chromium, Google's open-source browser engine. Its strength lies in its strong connectivity with Naver services, including the user interface (UI), which allows users to directly use major services such as Naver Search, Mail, Cafe, and Papago from the right sidebar of the screen.
As Naver expands AI search, the role of Whale is also growing. The company is increasing the proportion of AI Briefing, a summary-type AI search service during searches, and expanding users of the AI Tab, an interactive AI search service. This is interpreted as a strategy to utilize Whale as a channel connecting AI search with the execution of Naver services.
Naver plans to reinforce the AI browser features of Whale within this year. First, the company is pushing a plan to place an interactive AI service, similar in form to the AI Tab, on the right sidebar of Whale. The sidebar is a core UI of Whale that allows users to use Naver services without leaving the browser screen, and its utility is expected to improve once the feature is applied. It makes it possible to facilitate search behaviors, such as continuing with follow-up questions while checking search results.
Attention is focused on whether Whale will be able to increase its share in the domestic browser market through AI feature updates and help strengthen Naver's search competitiveness. According to Statcounter, a web traffic analysis firm, the domestic browser market share from May last year to May this year ranks as follows: Chrome 57.48%, Samsung Internet 13.73%, Safari 10.56%, Whale 8.16%, and Edge 7.16%. Whale has been distributed mainly in the public and education markets so far. It remains to be seen whether it will increase accessibility for general users as well.
An official from Naver stated, “As Naver intends to implement an AI agent, we will proceed with feature advancement so that it can also be supported in a browser format.”
