{"rewrite":{"id":"r_302e04d7c869c89fe10cd893","clusterId":"c_bf9c59aecf1b6c650a1f9ed4","slug":"lezhin-launches-teaz-ai-character-chat-service-in-korea","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Lezhin Launches Teaz AI Character Chat Service in Korea","summary":"Lezhin Entertainment launched Teaz in Korea on October 19, an AI character chat service built on original series from Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon. Users talk with characters as a participant or from a third-person view, and responses shift with their choices. The service runs as a web tool first, with a mobile app later, and includes collectible illustrations and items drawn by the original webtoon artists. Lezhin has not said whether an English version will follow.","whyItMatters":"Lezhin is putting its own webtoon characters behind a chat interface rather than licensing them out, which makes the platform itself the gatekeeper of how readers interact with the IP.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eTeaz is a web service at launch, and Lezhin says a mobile app and a text-based role-playing mode will arrive in stages. The characters come from original series on Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon, and the collectible art and items are credited to the webtoon artists themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eParent company KidariStudio framed the launch around combining content IPs with technology. Naver WEBTOON took a different route: it launched its byUs story chat service in July 2026, starting with creator-approved IPs led by Ctrl+Alt+Resign, after running a Character Chat service in Korea since June 2024.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Teaz draws its characters from Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon, so the chat service doubles as a cross-platform funnel for two webtoon libraries that otherwise compete for the same readers.","twitterPost":"Teaz pulls characters from both Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon, putting two rival webtoon libraries inside one chat app.","threadsPost":"Teaz sources its characters from Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon, which means Lezhin Entertainment is asking readers to chat inside a service that draws on a competitor's catalog too. The web tool ships first; the mobile app comes later, and no English version is confirmed.","newsletterBlurb":"Lezhin Entertainment launched Teaz in Korea on October 19, an AI chat service where users talk with characters from Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon originals. It starts on the web, with a mobile app and a text RPG mode planned in stages. Lezhin has not said whether it will expand the service into English.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Anime News Network\",\"url\":\"https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-10-19/lezhin-ent-to-launch-ai-character-chat-service-teaz-in-korea/.242947\",\"title\":\"Lezhin Ent. to Launch AI Character Chat Service Teaz in Korea\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4345,"outputTokens":615,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1792431428,"createdAt":"2026-10-19T17:31:12.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-19T17:36:05.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T17:36:05.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_bf9c59aecf1b6c650a1f9ed4","canonicalTitle":"News\nLezhin Ent. to Launch AI Character Chat Service Teaz in Korea","representativeArticleId":"a_5dea4fd6866ce2929b08e2a2","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Teaz\"],\"studios\":[\"Lezhin Entertainment\",\"Lezhin Comics\",\"Bomtoon\"],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"business\",\"domain\":\"industry\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-19T16:15:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-19T16:15:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T17:36:06.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Anime News Network","url":"https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-10-19/lezhin-ent-to-launch-ai-character-chat-service-teaz-in-korea/.242947","title":"News\nLezhin Ent. to Launch AI Character Chat Service Teaz in Korea"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Teaz"],"studios":["Lezhin Entertainment","Lezhin Comics","Bomtoon"],"people":[],"type":"business","domain":"industry","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}