The buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) has been growing steadily, with startups, mid-level firms, and major tech players like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon showing a keen interest.
Notably, Google is reportedly set to invest a substantial amount in an AI firm founded by two of its ex-employees.
According to a recent Reuters report, Google may pour “hundreds of millions of dollars” into Character.AI, an AI chatbot startup by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, both former Google staff.
This potential investment is expected to bolster Google’s existing partnership with Character.AI, although specific details about the deal remain under wraps for now.
Character.AI stands out in the AI space with its unique offering. The platform enables users to interact with virtual renditions of celebrities and anime characters.
Additionally, it provides the flexibility for users to craft their own chatbots and AI assistants. While the basic chatbot service is free, a premium option is available for those eager to bypass waiting lines for chatbot access.
Data from Similarweb reveals that Character.AI’s chatbots are particularly popular among the 18 to 24 age group, who make up about 60% of its web traffic.
This popularity underscores the company’s edge in creating engaging, personalized AI companions, distinguishing it from other AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
