Google Aims To Invest Hundreds Of Millions In AI Startup Character.AI?

Tech leader Google is in discussions to invest in the charismatic AI startup, Character.AI - let's spill the beans on the deal!

Google, the tech subsidiary of Alphabet, is negotiating a multi-hundred-million-dollar investment in Character.AI, the rapidly expanding AI chatbot firm. The startup is reportedly looking to raise funds to help it train AI models and keep up with consumer demand.

According to a third party, the partnership will grow thanks to the investment, which may take the form of convertible notes. It's a growing relationship that Character.AI already has with Google, wherein it trains models using Google's cloud services and Tensor Processing Units (TPUs).

Character.AI was established by a pair of ex-Googlers, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas and enables consumers to create their own chatbots and AI assistants, even chatting with digital representations of celebrities such as Billie Eilish and anime characters. While the service itself is free, a subscription model is available for an additional $9.99 per month for those who would like to bypass the chatbot queue.


So, what are the details on Character.AI then?

According to Similarweb's numbers, individuals aged 18–24 make up roughly 60% of Character.AI's website traffic. This demographic has been attracted to the company's chatbots because of the variety of roles and tones they offer. Compared to other AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, the target audience is helping the company establish itself as the provider of more entertaining personal AI companions.

According to prior business statements, the website received 100,000,000 unique monthly visitors in the first six months after its introduction.

Character.AI is reportedly in talks with venture capital investors to raise equity money, which could value the business at more than $5 billion. According to the individuals, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations with Google are continuing, the parameters of the transaction are subject to change.

Google has been making investments in AI startups, including a $2 billion convertible note investment in model maker Anthropic. The latest generation of Google's TPUs and cloud services are used by Anthropic, similar to Character.AI.

On the other hand, Microsoft's investment in OpenAI and Google's and Amazon's bets on Anthropic AI are just two examples of a growing trend in which large cloud services providers strike deals with AI companies to entice them to use their cloud or hardware in the computer-intensive race to build models and serve consumers.

As Google aims to invest in Character.AI, will the it define the next chapter in AI innovation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!