On Friday, startup Character.AI announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Alphabet’s Google, allowing the search engine giant access to its advanced large language model technology.
This agreement follows a trend observed over recent months, with tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon making similar deals to enhance their AI capabilities. As part of the arrangement, Character.AI’s co-founders, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, will rejoin Google, where they had previously worked.
These high-profile agreements are under increasing scrutiny by regulators in both the U.S. and Europe, reflecting concerns about the consolidation of AI expertise and technology within major tech companies. These firms are investing billions into their AI infrastructure and acquiring top talent from startups to maintain a competitive edge.
Character.AI also disclosed that it will receive additional funding from Google as part of the deal, though the amount was not specified. Dominic Perella, currently the general counsel of Character.AI, will step in as interim CEO effective immediately.
A Google spokesperson expressed enthusiasm about the return of Noam Shazeer, a leading researcher in machine learning, who will join Google DeepMind’s research team along with a few of his colleagues.
In March, Microsoft invested $650 million to acquire the co-founders and numerous staff from AI startup Inflection. Similarly, in June, Amazon recruited several co-founders and employees from Adept, another AI-focused startup.
Character.AI had previously raised $193 million in venture capital from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz. Last November, Reuters reported that the startup was in discussions to secure hundreds of millions more from Google.
For context, Inflection and Adept have raised $1.3 billion and $415 million, respectively, highlighting the substantial financial investments being funneled into the AI sector by major corporations.
[…] and Google have yet to respond to requests for comments, while Microsoft has declined to add any further […]