Decentralized AI social network CharacterX has raised $2.8 million in a seed funding round co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, INCE Capital and Spark Digital Capital.
The funding brings the company’s total valuation to $30 million. The milestone investment round involved several other investors, including 84000LP, Mask Network, CGV, ZC Capital, Web3Port, GRI Capital, Fermion Capital and individual investor Fan Zhang.
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Developed by a team of experts with over a decade of experience in AI development, CharacterX combines artificial general intelligence (AGI) with blockchain to create a “synthetic social network” for human-machine coexistence, where humans can interact and make relationships with lifelike AI characters. To reach said goal, CharacterX leverages several multisensory technologies like 3D and AR.
Based on its roadmap, the project recently entered the “Proactive AI” development stage, during which CharacterX has successfully garnered over 500,000 users, with an average engagement time of 30 minutes.
Promises of better social media experience
Although blockchain-powered social media networks have not entirely replaced conventional social media platforms, these sites offer several advantages not found in their traditional counterparts.
Multiple issues like content moderation, data breaches and content censorship have plagued conventional social media for years, leading to users lamenting the lack of data security and convenience in sharing content.
Compared to conventional social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), decentralized social media sites promise better data security and lack of censorship. This allows users a better and more convenient social media experience.
Furthermore, the lack of a central authority in decentralized social media also leads to a more democratic social media environment where everyone has the chance to have their opinions and voices heard.
Among the most prominent decentralized social media platform users are crypto owners. As a way to garner interest and engagement from crypto users, many decentralized social media platforms hand out crypto tokens when users engage in discussions, provide support to others or make content.
AI companion-focused social network
AI companions are the centerpiece of the CharacterX project. According to the platform, AI companions are becoming more essential in addressing the need for companionship amid the fast-paced modern life.
In a Medium post, CharacterX said traditional interpersonal communication has become more challenging in the modern world. With advanced natural language processing and emotional analysis technologies, CharacterX argues its AI companions could fill the gaps of traditional human companionship with its “soulful” interactions with human users.
Compared to traditional digital assistants like Alexa and Siri, AI companions are one step ahead in simulating human behavior. For example, AI companions can evolve over time and remember the preferences, past interactions and emotional needs of their human partners.
Like other decentralized social networks, CharacterX uses a crypto token named CXT as a governance token for various purposes, including community governance rights, NFT trading, NFT share trading, membership passes, community airdrop rewards and DeFi-related activities.
CharacterX also uses a reward coin called CXC coins that users can collect from daily check-ins, inviting friends to the platform and mining. In this regard, CXC coins are important as human users require 2,000 CXC just to make a single chat with their AI companions, which spurs the need for users to become more active in CharacterX.
The character creation feature in CharacterX also allows users to create their own NFT series. The more the users make AI characters, the more likely it is for them to acquire extra CXC/CXT rewards from making and trading these NFTs.
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