Kakao's (035720.KS) external data connection platform is gaining popularity among users of artificial intelligence (AI) agents. The MCP servers, or data packages dedicated to AI agents registered on Kakao's PlayMCP, have surpassed 460, while daily calls have averaged 80,000. PlayMCP, which started as a testing ground for developers, is expanding into a connection foundation for actual AI services.
According to Kakao on the 25th, 461 MCP servers were registered on PlayMCP as of last week. MCP stands for "Model Context Protocol," a set of standardized rules for how AI models connect with external data. Simply put, it is a concept like a "USB for AI models." When using AI services such as ChatGPT, calling external data via MCP eliminates the need to enter data or files one by one into the chat window (prompt). For this reason, MCP is gaining attention as a technology suited to the era of AI agents.
In response, Kakao unveiled PlayMCP, an MCP server platform, as a beta version last August. An MCP server is a kind of package and access gateway that holds specific data or functions so that AI can call and use them. On PlayMCP, domestic developers and AI users can create and upload MCP servers themselves and try them out by calling them from ChatGPT, Claude, and OpenClaw. The number of MCP servers registered here has shown a steep upward trend, with about 15 in September last year, 80 in January this year, and 200 in May this year. Comparing September last year, just after launch, with last week, the number of MCP servers has increased about 30-fold.
Not only servers built by Kakao such as "KakaoTalk Chat With Myself," "KakaoMap," and "Melon," but also servers created by users themselves are gaining popularity. As of the 25th, the MCP servers most frequently called by AI agents were, in order, "ArtBridge," which recommends performances based on data from the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (15,295 cumulative calls), "Na-Chat-Bang," which sends desired messages to the KakaoTalk chat with oneself (6,881 calls), "Ttingdong," a tool for checking parcel delivery status (5,718 calls), and KakaoMap (4,392 calls). Of these, ArtBridge and Ttingdong are MCP servers created by individual users.
An MCP server that shows elementary, middle, and high school timetables and meal information has been applied to KakaoTalk after being recognized for its convenience. It can be used as one of the Kakao Tools in "ChatGPT for Kakao," which lets users directly use ChatGPT within KakaoTalk. Kakao Tools is an AI agent function that connects directly to Kakao's internal and external services within KakaoTalk.
Kakao believes that the number of MCP servers has grown as PlayMCP's utility increased through integration with ChatGPT and Claude late last year and with OpenClaw in May this year. In the early days after launch, using a server required accessing "AI Chat" on the PlayMCP homepage, but now it can substantively support AI agent use through external AI integration.
For example, if a ChatGPT user connects a server within PlayMCP and instructs, "At 1 p.m., send the message 'Departing from Gangnam Station' to my KakaoTalk chat with myself," the AI agent sends the message to the chat with oneself. Calls to PlayMCP servers by external AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and OpenClaw averaged 80,000 per day over the past month. On the day with the most calls, the figure reached 95,000.
Kakao, which is expanding its points of contact with external services to build an AI agent ecosystem, plans to continue growing PlayMCP. It recently began a pilot operation of the "Seoul Real-Time City Data MCP Server" in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and is currently holding a contest to discover AI services based on PlayMCP. During the submission period, about 310 MCP servers entered. "We are working to enable users to use MCP servers in ChatGPT for Kakao as well," a Kakao official said. "We will also expand the AI utilization ecosystem with various partners including public institutions, companies, and developers."
