Character.AI, a startup that offers users machine intelligence-based chatbots that can impersonate almost anyone and anything, is currently in talks to raise new funding.
The media, citing insiders who are aware of the thematic content of the negotiation process, report that this technology company may receive investment funds, the amount of which will exceed $5 billion. If these preliminary data turn out to be true, confirmed by reality, the startup will have impressive financial support, which is not available to every representative of the artificial intelligence industry, even during the hype around the new generation technology.
Character.AI was one of the first developers of machine intelligence, which demonstrated an impressive result and thereby gained the attention of investors. This is reported by the media with reference to insiders who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity, explaining their desire for maximum confidentiality by the fact that in this case closed information is being discussed, and distributed exclusively within the corporate community. Negotiations on obtaining new funding are currently at an early stage. According to insiders, there is a possibility that this process will stop before the startup’s goal is achieved, and the company will not receive investment funds.
Representative of Character.AI did not provide substantive comments in response to a media request regarding the valuation of the firm. At the same time, he said that the startup has reached significant milestones after it managed to raise $150 million from investors earlier this year. According to him, as the company’s user base increases, grows the interest in Character.AI. The startup is aiming to be part of the revolutionary technology that the firm creates and delivers. Separately, he stressed that the company continues to have constructive conversations, but any speculation about fundraising or evaluation is just an assumption. In this statement, which has a general character, there is something like a sign of a hidden recognition of the fact of negotiations. But this conclusion is also just an assumption.
Insiders who have spoken to the media say that at a certain point in negotiations with investors, the startup discussed an estimate of up to $10 billion. At the same time, even a much lower figure would be a significant leap compared to the value of $1 billion in the company’s last round of financing.
Character.AI was founded in 2021 by former Google employees Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas. The company provides users with the ability to create chatbots that can conduct conversations in text format. Consumers of this digital product have sent tens of millions of messages to characters like Super Mario. Characters are able to respond to their interlocutors by generating semantic constructions using artificial intelligence.
Currently, the startup is at an early stage of development. The company’s business model can still evolve. This year, the firm began offering users a monthly subscription worth $10 per service. c.ai +, through which consumers get faster access to the messaging system. The startup is one of the growing companies developing generative artificial intelligence, which is software that creates new content in the form of arrays of text or visual material based on data entered by customers.
Against the background of the increasing cost of machine intelligence, some investors are considering the expediency of financing models of digital intelligence with a large number of languages by venture firms. One such model was created by Character.AI. In this case, significant costs are provided for the development and operation of specialized technologies. According to some industry representatives, the creators of such a digital product should turn to strategic investors, for example, Microsoft, which supported OpenAI.
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