Google acquires artificial intelligence avatar start-up for $100 mn to compete against TikTok

Google has acquired an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar start-up called Alter that was working on creating avatars for creators and brands to use as a means to express their virtual identities. According to TechCrunch, the acquisition for about $100 million was made to improve the tech giants content game and compete with TikTok.

This is Alphabet's eighth major acquisition this year. The acquisition was completed two months ago but neither of the companies made any public announcement. According to reports, some of Alter's top executives' LinkedIn profiles revealed their association with Google stating that they have joined Google but they did not mention anything regarding the acquisition. A Google spokesperson confirmed the acquisition of Alter but declined to comment on the deal's financial terms, the report added.

The acquisition of Aleter will help Google as the facial recognition technology of the company is still lacking in comparison to that of Apple. Once the avatars are part of Google, it may be possible to integrate them with YouTube Shorts which the tech giant is hoping will be able to compete with TikTok. But how or when this will be possible is to be seen.

Alter started Facemoji, a platform that helped game and App developers add avatar systems to their apps through a plug-and-play technology.

Google also recently launched custom emojis in its chat for personal experience.

Published on: Monday, October 31, 2022, 01:12 PM IST