2026 Asia AI Awards Ceremony
Naver Wins Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Award
Runs AI Fellowship Program “Naver Mate”
As the age of artificial intelligence (AI) dawns, Naver was honored with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Award at the 2026 Asia AI Awards ceremony held on Nov. 5 at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, for supporting creators and contributing to the growth of the content ecosystem.
In keeping with its philosophy that “the growth of creators is the growth of the platform,” Naver was recognized for revitalizing its own content ecosystem over the past 25 years and turning that into platform competitiveness. It continues to regard creators as key partners in the AI era, expanding the AI ecosystem with them and strengthening its competitiveness.
Kim Minsu, head of Naver Creator Biz, poses for a commemorative photo after receiving the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Award at the 2026 Asia AI Awards ceremony at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Nov. 5, 2026. Photo by Kang Jinhyeong
In particular, Naver launched its AI fellowship program, “Naver Mate,” in June 2026. The program supports individual creators based on how often AI models cite their content. While there have been cases of AI companies in global markets compensating content companies, it is difficult to find programs that support individual creators. Naver selects 3,000 creators each month and provides activity grants of up to KRW 10 million per month, totaling approximately KRW 20 billion annually.
Creators selected for Naver Mate receive the official “Naver Mate” emblem on their profiles and content, and users can easily find their content through Naver services such as integrated search and AI Briefing. The program is regarded as an effort to help users and AI discover quality content together in the AI era. By supporting creators who devote care to producing content grounded in experience and expertise, Naver aims to motivate them to write new material while minimizing low-quality AI content and helping users easily find the information they need.
Kim Gwanghyun, Naver’s Chief Data and Content Officer (CDO), said, “Connecting good data with AI to deliver differentiated user experiences is key to AI competitiveness.” He added, “Over the next five years, Naver plans to invest KRW 1 trillion to expand a creator ecosystem optimized for the AI environment.”
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Naver’s artificial intelligence (AI) fellowship program, “Naver Mate.” Naver
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