By Hikaru Sunaga
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Japanese tech giant LY Corp. on Monday announced the introduction of a new AI service named "Agent i" that is capable of responding to users' queries.
Users can access the service for free by tapping an icon displayed on the free messaging app Line or the search site Yahoo! Japan. The system allows users to type in various questions and concerns, to which the AI will provide answers.
The new service was created by integrating the separate AI services previously provided by Line and Yahoo! Japan, and it will be linked to more than 100 services offered by LY Corp.
Agent i will initially support users in seven areas, such as shopping, tourism and weather forecasting, but LY Corp. plans to gradually expand its services. By June, a feature will be introduced to optimize the AI's answers by learning from users' conversations with it. By September, its functions will expand to over 20 areas, including housing searches and recipe suggestions. The AI will be improved to make it able to act on behalf of users without detailed instructions.
For example, if a user wants to buy real estate, the AI will be able to suggest properties that match the user's desired conditions, such as location, budget and transportation convenience. It will also be able to help the user book viewings for properties. Humans will need to make the final decision to purchase anything, the company said.
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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
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April 21, 2026 01:54 ET (05:54 GMT)
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