Line launches AI Assistant services in Japan

Line Corporation announced on Friday that it has launched paid and free AI Assistant services within the LINE Messenger in Japan.

LINE AI Assistant is a service that utilizes OpenAI's application programming interface (API) to respond to user questions and provide consultations.

To use this service, Japan LINE app version 14.1.0 or higher is required.

Users can receive up to five free AI responses per day, but this is limited to text messages only, and features such as translation, summary and analysis of images and files are not available.

On the other hand, by subscribing to the paid plan of 990 yen ($6.58) per month, including taxes, users can enjoy unlimited access to all features.

Last month, LINE also launched a service called LINE AI Q&A, which allows users to ask questions to generative AI and other users through OpenAI's API in Japan.

On the LINE Messenger home, users can access a dedicated page to post questions. The AI responds to the questions first, and then other users can also provide answers, allowing the questioner to consider a variety of opinions, according to the company.

LY Corp. is a company created from the merger of Z Holdings Corp., a joint venture created by Naver Corp. and SoftBank Group in October last year, and Yahoo! Japan, a subsidiary of Z Holdings, and LINE.

The LINE brand in Japan is managed by LY Corp., while LINE Plus Corp., a subsidiary of LY Corp., oversees overseas markets including South Korea.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at deep@hankyung.com