Google reportedly acquires avatar startup Alter for around $100 million

Google has reportedly acquired avatar startup Alter that was working on using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate avatars for social media users. As per a report by TechCrunch, Google bought the startup for around $100 million almost two months ago but neither company made it official. The report suggests that Google will use the startup to improve its content game and compete with TikTok.

A Google spokesperson confirmed that the company had acquired Alter but declined to comment on the financial terms of the transaction, it added. Some of the top executives of Alter have updated their LinkedIn profiles to reveal that they have joined Google without acknowledging the acquisition, according to the report.

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For those who are unaware, Alter started as Facemoji, a platform that offered plug-and-play technology for helping game and App developers add avatar systems to their Apps. Among its investors are Play Ventures, Roosh Ventures and Twitter, which invested $3 million in the startup. Later Facemoji rebranded as Alter.

Alter founders Jon Slimak and Robin Raszka did not respond to a request for comment, reports TechCrunch. Meanwhile, Google has recently rolled out custom emojis to its Chat for personalised experience. Emojis are a great method for users to express themselves in Google Chat, the tech giant said in a blogpost.

(with inputs from IANS)