Kakao uses in-house AI model to let pets 'write' letters to their owners

Kakao announced Monday it will run a "Kanana Pet Letter" event through Aug. 14, powered by its in-house omnimodal AI model Kanana-o.

The event uses Kanana-o to analyze a photo of a user's pet, infer what the animal might be thinking, and produce a letter — complete with text and a voice message — written from the pet's perspective.

Kanana-o, the core technology behind the event, is Kakao's proprietary omnimodal AI model capable of processing text, audio and images simultaneously. It analyzes a pet's facial expression alongside contextual cues in the photo to generate naturally worded text and voice messages.

Kakao packed Kanana-o's main capabilities — image analysis, text and voice generation, and video production — into a single seamless workflow. Users need only upload a photo of their pet and select a desired voice tone; the AI handles the rest without requiring commands or complex settings.

Kakao also integrated its in-house AI safety model, Kanana Safeguard, into the event to detect harmful content and maintain a safe service environment.

Participation is straightforward. Users enter their pet's name and their relationship to the animal, upload one photo, and choose from five voice tones: "lively," "sly," "aloof," "affectionate" or "aggrieved."

Tapping the "Make Pet Letter" button prompts Kanana-o to analyze the pet's expression and surrounding objects in the photo, imagine the animal's inner thoughts, and generate a letter in both text and audio. The finished letter is combined with the uploaded photo to produce a short video.

Once the pet letter is ready, users receive a notification through Kakao's official KakaoTalk channel, Kanana Tips.

All participants who complete a pet letter are automatically entered into a prize draw, with winners receiving a 20,000-won ($13) KakaoTalk gift voucher. Users who post their finished pet letter on Instagram and tag the official Kanana account "kanana.ai" are entered into a separate draw for a 300,000-won KakaoTalk gift voucher.

"This event was born from the desire of pet owners to share a warm moment of connection with their animals, and we hope many people enjoy experiencing Kanana's AI technology through it," a Kakao official said. "We will continue to find unique ways to bring AI into everyday life and expand the touchpoints between users and AI."