In a big move, Character.AI co-founder and CEO Noam Shazeer is returning to Google after leaving the company in October 2021 to found the a16z-backed chatbot startup. In his previous stint ...

Google paid $2.7 billion to rehire an artificial intelligence genius who left the tech giant in a huff three years ago to found his own startup, according to a report.

Character.ai is in talks to raise around $200 million in a round backed by Google, BI understands. The startup allows users to create AI-generated characters that function as chatbots.