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AI avatar firm Character AI is getting shut with Google. The startup immediately introduced in a weblog submit that it’s going to license its giant language mannequin (LLM) tech to Google in alternate for “elevated funding for Character.AI to proceed rising and to give attention to constructing personalised AI merchandise for customers all over the world.”
As well as, Character AI’s founding staff, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, together with some members of its analysis staff, will be a part of Google. The corporate stated most of its workers will stay at Character AI, whereas its basic counsel, Dominic Perella, will grow to be interim chief government officer.
“As we enter this subsequent part of progress, we are going to proceed to spend money on our post-training capabilities, with the pliability to make use of our personal or externally out there LLMs. We’re excited for the way forward for Character.AI and are dedicated to serving our customers via revolutionary new merchandise,” the corporate stated within the weblog submit.
What’s Character AI?
Character AI, based in 2022, permits individuals to create AI avatars of themselves or different characters. The corporate reached a valuation of $1 billion in March 2023 after a $150 million funding spherical led by Andreessen Horowitz.
The corporate beforehand constructed its personal fashions, selecting a full stack strategy of pre-training, coaching and deployment to create AI avatars.
But it surely stated in its weblog submit that “the panorama has shifted” prior to now few years the place extra off-the-shelf, pre-trained fashions are available. By leveraging Google’s LLMs, Character AI stated it might give attention to post-training fashions and creating new merchandise for its customers.
Certainly, earlier this week, Meta was reported to be discontinuing its movie star AI chatbots that have been broadly seen as rivals to Character AI after apparently low consumer uptake and engagement.
Google informed VentureBeat that Shazeer, a former software program engineer at Google, will be a part of the DeepMind staff.
“I’m tremendous excited to return to Google and work as a part of the Google DeepMind staff. I’m so pleased with all the pieces we constructed at Character.AI during the last three years,” Shazeer stated in an e-mail to VentureBeat. “I’m assured that the funds from the non-exclusive Google licensing settlement, along with the unbelievable Character.AI staff, place Character.AI for continued success sooner or later.”
One other deal within the AI house
Google and Character AI didn’t present extra particulars in regards to the deal, nor did both firm affirm whether or not the settlement could possibly be thought-about an acquisition.
Different massive tech corporations have primarily purchased corporations via “acquihiring,” when the manager staff and enormous swathes of a startup are employed by a giant firm. Sources near the deal informed VentureBeat it was not an aquisition nor an acqui-hire
For instance, Microsoft employed the co-founders of AI startup Inflection which many imagine is a approach to keep away from regulatory considerations round an acquisition.
This isn’t the primary time Character AI has been concerned in potential takeover talks. The Data reported that Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI thought-about shopping for Character AI, although Musk later denied the report on his social community, X (previously Twitter).