Google Hires Key Talent from Character.AI and Secures Licensing Deal

Character.AI has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which grants Google access to Character.AI’s large language model technology. As part of the deal, Character.AI’s co-founders, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, will return to Google. The agreement also includes additional funding for Character.AI, though the specific amount was not disclosed.

This move mirrors recent high-profile deals by Microsoft and Amazon, which are currently under regulatory scrutiny due to rising concerns over major tech companies’ investments and acquisitions in the AI sector.

Character.AI’s General Counsel, Dominic Perella, will take over as interim CEO. Google expressed enthusiasm about welcoming Shazeer back to its DeepMind research team, alongside some of his former colleagues.

Earlier this year, Microsoft acquired co-founders and staff from AI startup Inflection for $650 million, and Amazon also brought on talent from the AI startup Adept.

Character.AI had previously raised $193 million from investors like Andreessen Horowitz and was reportedly in negotiations with Google for additional funding.