JAKARTA - Google secretly acquired Alter, an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar startup formerly known as Facemoji, earlier this year for $100 million.
This acquisition was first known by TechCrunch from a source familiar with this event. However, Google also confirmed the acquisition last week but gave no details on the exact date of acquisition and purchase price.
According to the report, Google bought Alter to compete better with TikTok. The startup offers a platform that other developers can use to add avatar creation systems to their apps and games.
That was reinforced when Alter's Chief Operating Officer, Jon Slimak, updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect a new role in Google Avatars.
Launching CNET, Monday, October 31, in recent years, Google has invested heavily in its AI technology. From language learning models to image generators, the company places AI in the center of its product series.
For example, with Search, Google uses AI not only to help people filter bad results, but also to help those struggling with personal crises. Where, the AI is designed to better understand the meaning behind the search query and immediately provide useful information for the tracer.
With its hardware, such as the newly released Pixel 7, the company is integrating AI processing cores into mobile processors to help process photos or translate speech better.
In 2021, Google will launch YouTube Shorts, a company's short-form video platform meant to compete with TikTok. It's possible that Google Avatars can integrate with Shorts in the future, which now has 1.5 billion users every month.
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