Google provided the startup with more funding in return for a non-exclusive license for its current LLM technology.
Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas — with whom he cofounded Character.ai in 2021 — were expected to join Google as part of the deal.
Other Character.ai employees were expected to stay with the company, though, expanding on the startup’s products, with the company’s general counsel, Dominic Perella, stepping in the role of interim CEO.