Character.AI Founders Rejoin Google in New Deal

Character.AI has entered into a significant licensing deal with Google, allowing the tech giant to use its large language model (LLM) technology. In return, Character.AI will receive increased funding to continue its growth and focus on building personalized AI products. The co-founders of Character.AI, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, along with several research team members, will rejoin Google and work with its DeepMind team. Dominic Perella, the company's general counsel, will serve as interim CEO. This move reflects the changing landscape of AI, where more pre-trained models are available, enabling Character.AI to leverage third-party LLMs and concentrate on post-training and new product development. The partnership underscores the competitive pressures among AI startups and big tech companies.