Google Acquires Character.AI Cofounders, Licenses AI Models in Strategic AI Expansion 🤖

News & Articles
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Summary:

  1. Strategic Licensing and Acquisition: Google has entered into an agreement with Character.AI to pay a licensing fee for its AI models. The deal includes hiring Character.AI’s cofounders and many of its researchers, integrating them into Google’s Gemini AI team.

  2. Valuation and Investor Buyout: The agreement involves buying out Character.AI’s investors at about $88 per share, valuing the company at roughly 2.5 times its 2023 Series A valuation of $1 billion.

  3. Shift to Open-Source Models: Following the deal, Character.AI will transition to using open-source models like Meta Platforms’ Llama 3.1 for its products, moving away from its proprietary models.

Read more at The Verge