The founders of Character.AI, one of the leading artificial intelligence startups, are rejoining Google, along with key members of their team. Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, the co-founders, along with select researchers from Character.AI, will join Google’s AI division, DeepMind, as announced on Friday.
Character.AI, which utilizes large language models (LLMs) to enable users to create and interact with chatbots, achieved a $1 billion valuation during last year’s AI surge. Although the startup did not initially generate revenue, it had plans to introduce a subscription service in the future.
Shazeer and De Freitas originally left Google in 2021 after their efforts to advance chatbot technology within the company were reportedly dismissed. They subsequently founded Character.AI that same year. Freitas had previously criticized Google’s slow progress, suggesting that the company lacked the ability to innovate quickly, particularly in contrast to Bard, now known as Gemini.
In a significant development, Character.AI has agreed to provide Google with a non-exclusive license for its current LLM technology. According to a blog post from Character.AI, this agreement will facilitate increased funding for the startup, allowing it to focus on developing personalized AI products for a global audience. The blog also noted the evolving AI landscape, with many pre-trained models now available, which prompted the company to leverage third-party LLMs alongside its own technology.
The rejoining of Shazeer and De Freitas comes as Google faces intensified competition in the AI space, particularly following the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google has recently restructured its organization to accelerate its AI initiatives. Last year, Google was reportedly in discussions to invest heavily in Character.AI.
A Google spokesperson expressed enthusiasm about Shazeer’s return, highlighting his expertise in machine learning. This move occurs amid a fiercely competitive AI talent landscape, as companies form strategic partnerships under increased regulatory scrutiny.
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