As the AI market continues to heat up against the backdrop of ChatGPT last year, we are starting to see an array of startups entering the scene specifically in the natural language space.
ChatGPT was the inflection point that led to all of this media hype and attention to this space. Some of the hype is justified as the tools that are now being created are a bit novel and amazing.
Character.ai is one that has caught my attention recently and it’s a very interesting app. This company was founded by two ex-Google employees who have experience within the AI space.
Basically, it allows us to talk to different characters from some of them fictional and some are based on real people, for example, I spoke to Elon Musk and Nicki Minaj, I could ask conversational questions and I would get back conversational answers. It’s a very interesting technology.
Recently the company raised US$150 million from major VC funds such as a16z, SV Angel, A Capital and from investors such as Nat Friedman and Elad Gil. They will use this money to build out the platform and create more characters on top of the 1 million they already have.
It seems like since the crypto market has practically cooled, the metaverse is practically not coming out the way Zuckerberg wants, and we are seeing a lot of money being poured into the AI market. The overall market is valued at close to US$200 billion at the moment and is expected to rise.
I think given the time that we are in, it’s the moment for AI and we are going to see a lot of changes in our society because of it.
