Character.ai Files for Bankruptcy

I worked at a company in 2000s that was acquired. I had no stock but the owner still gave a generous spot bonus and a years salary bonus retention package to employees. It’s sad that this doesn’t seem to be the norm? Screwing employees on acquisition seems like a severe breach of social contract.

> Google spent over $2 billion to hire away much of the company’s talent, including co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, in 2024.

So many job openings for a company going under.

https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/character/

archived, no trackers: https://nonograph.com/characterai-files-for-bankruptcy-10-13...

I wonder what will happen to all the very personal and sensitive data they (probably) have on users?

The CEO and left a week ago. he must have been among the first to see this coming.

A lot of money moved through different hands, yet it doesn’t seems that nothing of value was created.

I wonder how any of this makes sense.

Will this kick off a wave off bankruptcy of companies with morally bankrupt ideas?

5 days ago:

Character.AI chatbots encouraged users to cut and starve themselves, Kentucky alleges

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/characterai-chatbot...

I had no idea there is a Morality Court

I think it's unfortunate that this is the case and that the service has been treated unfairly in many regards, but c.ai has faced specific problems that other businesses in the space don't, and the basic service isn't going to be marketed towards the more revenue-generating segments like enterprise without making something different out of it.

It was always odd to me that talent like Noam Shazeer was working at a company with such a gimmicky premise to begin with.

And nothing of value was lost...

(well, except investment money I guess)

Boom and bust cycle in startups is so short lately!

Is there this implosion's version of fuckedcompany.com?

You realize that the investors already got their exit after Google bought off the founders and some of their staff?

They knew it was going to $0, so the now the employees at this "employee owned" Character.ai got themselves scammed.

And so, it begins. The first domino has fallen.

I'm gonna go, grab some popcorn and cry a few tears... tears of joy.

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Good. Let this be a warning to shit companies with shit products and shit business models.

calling this a domino is pretty funny. "the first tiddlywink has spontaneously disintegrated"