Google's AI Deal Not What It Seemed: Talent and License, Not Acquisition

Google made headlines last August when it announced a $2.7B deal with Character.AI, but what was initially thought to be an acquisition turned out to be something else.

The company still operates independently and has not been acquired by Google.

What actually happened is that Google hired the co-founders of Character.AI, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, along with other researchers, and took a non-exclusive licence to use their AI models.

This arrangement allowed Google to tap into the expertise of Character.AI's team while keeping the company independent.