Google quietly acquired Alter, a Twitter-backed AI avatar startup formerly named Facemoji, earlier this year for $100 million. Alter aims to generate avatars using AI, not only of people, but of clothing and accessories they wear. The exact date of the acquisition and purchase price has yet to be confirmed by Google. Alter’s chief operating officer, Jon Slimak, has updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect a new role at Google Avatars. Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but did confirm the acquisition to TechCrunch. The search giant’s social media aspirations fizzled out in 2018, it is finding renewed momentum with YouTube Shorts, the company’s short-form video platform meant to compete with TikTok. . . .
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