Sources: Google in Talks to Invest in AI Startup Character.AI

FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Sources: Google in Talks to Invest in AI Startup Character.AI

FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Alphabet's Google is in talks to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Character.AI, as the fast growing artificial intelligence chatbot startup seeks capital to train models and keep up with user demand, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The investment, which could be structured as convertible notes, according to a third source, will deepen the existing partnership Character.AI already has with Google, in which it uses Google's cloud services and Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) to train models.
Google and Character AI did not respond to requests for comment.
Founded by former Google employees Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, Character.AI allows people to chat with virtual versions of celebrities like Billie Eilish or anime characters, while creating their own chatbots and AI assistants. It is free to use, but offers subscription model that charges $9.99 a month for users who want to skip the virtual line to access a chatbot.
Character.AI's chatbots, with various roles and tones to choose from, have appealed to users ages 18 to 24, who contributed about 60% of its website traffic, according to data from Similarweb. The demographic is helping the company position itself as the purveyor of more fun personal AI companions, compared to other AI chatbots from OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard.
The company previously said its website had attracted 100 million monthly visits in the first six months since its launch.
Character.AI is also in talks to raise equity funding from venture capital investors, which could value the company at over $5 billion, sources said. In March, it raised $150 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz at $1 billion valuation.
The talks with Google are ongoing and terms of the deal could change, said the sources, who requested anonymity as the discussions are private, Reuters reported.
Google has been investing in AI startups, including $2 billion for model maker Anthropic in the form of convertible notes, on top of its earlier equity investment. Anthropic uses Google's cloud services as well as its latest version of TPUs.
That is part of a recent trend in which big tech cloud services providers are striking deals with AI companies to entice them to use certain cloud or hardware in the computer-intensive race to build models and serve consumers, including Microsoft investments in OpenAI and Google and Amazon's bets on Anthropic.



Apple’s iPhone 16 Hits Indonesia Stores after Monthslong Ban

Apple's iPhone 16 models have hit the shelves in Indonesia after a monthslong sales ban. BAY ISMOYO / AFP
Apple's iPhone 16 models have hit the shelves in Indonesia after a monthslong sales ban. BAY ISMOYO / AFP
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Apple’s iPhone 16 Hits Indonesia Stores after Monthslong Ban

Apple's iPhone 16 models have hit the shelves in Indonesia after a monthslong sales ban. BAY ISMOYO / AFP
Apple's iPhone 16 models have hit the shelves in Indonesia after a monthslong sales ban. BAY ISMOYO / AFP

Smartphone buyers were cheered by shopkeepers in Jakarta on Friday after Apple's latest smartphone went on sale following a monthslong ban in Indonesia.

The marketing and sale of iPhone 16 models was prohibited by the government in October over Apple’s failure to meet regulation requiring that 40 percent of smartphone components be made from local parts, said AFP.

But the US tech titan announced last month that its latest smartphone models would hit the shelves, weeks after striking a deal with the Indonesian government to invest in the country.

Albert Wongso, 34, told AFP outside the store he was very happy to learn that the iPhone 16s were now available in Indonesia.

"I’m very happy to hear from the news because we can buy the iPhone directly from Indonesia," the IT consultant told AFP Friday, adding that he was looking to buy the iPhone 16 Pro model to replace his iPhone 11.

"Because if we buy from the other country... it’s quite hard for example to claim the warranty," he said.

While the ban was in place, the government had allowed iPhone 16 models to be brought into the country, provided they were not being traded commercially.

A win for Apple

Jakarta rejected a $100 million investment proposal from Apple in November, saying it lacked the "fairness" required by the government.

The company later agreed to invest $150 million in building two facilities -- one in Bandung in West Java province to produce accessories, and another in Batam for AirTags.

Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said in February that Apple had also committed to building a semiconductor research and development center in Indonesia, calling it a "first of its kind in Asia".

The iPhone 16's entry into the Indonesian market marks a win for Apple and signaled the economic importance of the country of 280 million people.

"Indonesia is one of the biggest markets for Apple in the Asian region apart from China and so on," said Nailul Huda, director of digital economy at the think tank, Centre of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS).

The Indonesian government is considering relaxing regulation of the information and communication technology sector ahead of talks with the United States over President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto is set to lead a delegation to Washington this month in the hope of striking a better deal after Trump announced a 90-day pause on the harshest tariff against US trading partners.

Indonesia has also banned the sale of Google Pixel phones for failing to meet the 40 percent local parts requirement.