lter, an AI avatar start-up that allows businesses and creators to express their virtual selves, has been purchased by Google. According to a TechCrunch article, the acquisition was made two months ago for roughly $100 million with the goal of enhancing its content game and competing with TikTok.

Top executives at Alter had connections to Google, according to their LinkedIn accounts. Without specifically mentioning the transaction, former Alter COO Jonathan Slimak revealed in September that he was beginning a new post at Google on LinkedIn. A Google representative acknowledged the purchase but would not discuss the specific financial details of the agreement.

To help game and app developers integrate avatar systems to their products, Alter began as Facemoji. Google reportedly just introduced personalised emoticons in Chat.

According to Android Police, Alter is Alphabet's seventh significant acquisition of the year. In 2020, Alter debuted as Facemoji, a company that sold plug-and-play avatars on social media and gaming platforms. One company that contributed $3 million in startup money was Twitter.

Snapchat provides dedicated full-body avatars called Bitmoji in addition to face-mapped filters and avatars, while Facebook and Instagram have comparable options. Given that TikTok is being targeted, Google may be enabling avatars on its YouTube Shorts platform as well, though it's unclear if Google is only trying to catch up with TikTok with such a move.

With Alter, Alphabet has made its ninth significant acquisition of the year; back in February, we also covered Google's acquisition of micro-LED manufacturer Raxium.

The agreement, which was finalised 'around two months ago,' is expected to support the company's ambitions to take on TikTok. In the meantime, Google just introduced personalised emoticons to its Chat service.

According to a blog post by the internet giant, using emojis in Google Chat is a fantastic way for people to express themselves. It's unclear how Alter's people and technology could help Google outperform TikTok.

Google's version of the short-form video format, YouTube Shorts, has already proven to be profitable for the firm. Google revealed in June of this year that the platform had 1.5 billion monthly active users after a global rollout in the summer of 2021.