Inworld AI now has a total valuation of over $500 million, or more than half a billion, after its recent funding round gave the company an additional $50 million. It comes as the company works on creating a AI-driven Character Engine.
Inworld AI Raised an Additional $50 Million in Funding Bringing Its Total Valuation to Over Half a Billion
According to Games Industry, Inworld AI had a new funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, raising $50 million from some big venture capital firms.
These include investments from Samsung Next and Stanford University. Also contributing to the funds were Microsoft's M12 Fund, LG Technology Ventures, and First Spark Ventures.
Inworld AI will reportedly use the funds for research and development, investing in infrastructure, and launching an open-source version of the company's Character Engine. The funds will also be utilized for "hiring top talent."
Inworld AI Is Working on Providing an Open-Source Tool That Allows Users to Create NPCs
The company said in its announcement that its Character Engine aims to "bring characters to life with realistic emotion and dialogue." Inworld AI targets to populate worlds with AI-driven non-playable characters (NPCs) that "behave with convincing real-time responses and actions."
"AI-driven characters are new magic. They will power a paradigm shift (a form of renaissance) in storytelling, and escapism, where the audience can transcend the role of passive viewer to active participant," John Gaeta, Chief Creative Officer of Inworld, said in a statement.
"This type of interactive media will open up new avenues of creative expression, with narratives guided by the collective imagination of creators and the audience," he added.
Company Is Committing to Open Source as It Believes Collaboration Is Important
Inworld AI's CTO and co-founder, Michael Ermolenko, gave a statement regarding the company's recent achievement. Ermolenko noted that the company commits itself to open source as Inworld AI believes that collaboration fuels innovation.
He further noted that by working with the open-source developer community, they would be able to push forward innovations when it comes to generative AI that will "elevate the entire gaming industry."
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Inworld AI Has So far Raised Over $100 Million in Total Funding
According to Business Wire, Inworld AI is the leading Character Engine for games and interactive experiences. The company has already raised $10 million in a funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures last year.
With over $100 million in total funding, Inworld AI is reportedly now the "best-funded startup at the intersection of AI and gaming."
Going beyond current large language models (LLMs) and chatbots, the company's technology allows developers to power AI-driven NPCs, bringing depth and realism to characters.
The Inworld AI's platform also allows developers to link the firm's character brains to their animation and rigging systems, including in 3D environments. For those wanting to participate, Inworld AI is reportedly open for collaboration regarding its open-source AI NPC projects.
To do this, developers will have to visit the company's official website, where they can sign up and become one of the first to learn about open-source AI NPC projects. The company offers a free model, a Pro version that costs $20 monthly, and an Enterprise version that costs $5,000 monthly.
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