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Inworld, a generative AI platform for creating NPCs, lands fresh investment

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Summary

Inworld is a generative AI platform for creating NPCs that was launched in 2021 by the founding team of API.AI. It claims to use “multiple” machine learning models to “mimic the full range of human communication” and create characters and NPCs that can autonomously chat and act. The startup has recently secured over $50 million in investments from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Stanford University, Samsung Next, Microsoft’s M12 fund, and Eric Schmidt’s First Spark Ventures, bringing their total raised to over $100 million. Inworld’s tools integrate with game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine and have been used to create AI-driven character mods for games such as Skyrim, Stardew Valley, and Grand Theft Auto V. In the future, they plan to launch an open source version of their character creation tool and expand into marketing campaigns, automated customer service agents, and other forms of entertainment.

Q&As

What is Inworld, and what is its purpose?
Inworld is a generative AI platform for creating NPCs. Its purpose is to allow developers to link its dialog- and voice-generating tools to animation and rigging systems within popular game engines, including 3D environments, to help deliver more lifelike and immersive gaming experiences.

What unique capabilities does Inworld provide for creating NPCs?
Inworld's AI tools allow customers to build characters and NPCs that can chat and act autonomously, learn and adapt to new situations, navigate chats with memory and recall, autonomously initiate goals and perform actions, and gather information like a player’s name, role or gender, plus game-specific elements like level or faction.

How much investment has Inworld received, and from whom?
Inworld has received more than $100 million in investment, including more than $50 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Stanford University, Samsung Next, Microsoft’s M12 fund, Eric Schmidt’s First Spark Ventures, Disney as a part of the 2022 Disney Accelerator, and a grant from Epic.

What are Inworld's plans for their Character Engine tool?
Inworld plans to launch an open source version of its character creation tool, Character Engine, in the next few months.

What differentiates Inworld from other generative AI game startups?
Inworld differentiates itself from other generative AI game startups by offering safety tech, including controls for profanity, bias and toxicity, to keep characters “on brand”, as well as a tool, called 4th Wall, that attempts to preserve immersion by preventing NPCs from talking about locations, people, social constructs, professions and time periods outside a game’s lore. Inworld also has its eye on experiences beyond games, such as marketing campaigns, automated customer service agents and broader entertainment.

AI Comments

👍 I'm excited to see the potential of Inworld's generative AI platform to create dynamic dialogue and immersive gaming experiences. It's great to see that they are working to ensure safety and prevent NPCs from going off-script.

👎 It's concerning that the competition for generative game AI is getting fiercer, as there are now many companies competing in the same space. It will be difficult for Inworld to differentiate itself from the rest.

AI Discussion

Me: It’s about Inworld, a generative AI platform for creating NPCs. They are using AI to dynamically generate dialogue for games, which could help create more lifelike and immersive gaming experiences.

Friend: Wow, that's really interesting. What implications does this have?

Me: Well, this technology could potentially revolutionize the gaming industry and create entirely new and innovative gaming experiences. It could also create jobs in the AI and gaming fields, as more developers and companies are likely to be looking for ways to use this technology. There may also be implications for other industries, such as customer service and marketing campaigns, as Inworld is looking to expand into those areas as well.

Action items

Research other generative AI platforms for creating NPCs.
Explore the potential applications of generative AI for dynamic dialogue in gaming.
Experiment with Inworld's Character Engine to create AI-driven character mods for popular games.

Technical terms

Generative AI: Artificial intelligence that can generate new content, such as text, images, or audio.
NPCs: Non-player characters, or computer-controlled characters in video games.
Dynamic Dialogue: Dialogue that changes based on the context of the game or conversation.
API.AI: A platform for speech recognition and natural language understanding developed by Google.
Dialogflow: Google’s flagship conversational AI design platform.
3D Environments: Computer-generated environments that appear three-dimensional.
Natural Language: Language that is spoken or written in a way that is natural to humans.
4th Wall: A tool that attempts to preserve immersion by preventing NPCs from talking about locations, people, social constructs, professions and time periods outside a game’s lore.
Unity: A cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies.
Unreal Engine: A game engine developed by Epic Games.
Lucasfilm: An American film production company founded by George Lucas.
ILM Immersive: A storytelling studio of Lucasfilm.
Skyrim: An action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios.
Stardew Valley: A farming simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric Barone.
Grand Theft Auto V: An action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North.
Disney Accelerator: A program that helps startups create products and services for Disney.
Epic: A video game and software development company.
Lightspeed Venture Partners: A venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups.
Stanford University: A private research university in California.
Samsung Next: A venture capital arm of Samsung.
M12 Fund: Microsoft’s venture fund.
First Spark Ventures: A venture capital firm founded by Eric Schmidt.
NetEase Games: A Chinese video game developer and publisher.
Niantic: An American software development company.
LG Uplus: A South Korean telecommunications company.
Alpine Electronics: A Japanese manufacturer of automotive electronics.