New Delhi, Jan. 23 -- Google joined Japanese startup Sakana AI's roster of backers in a move that bolsters chatbot Gemini's presence in a country eager to speed up artificial intelligence adoption.

The investment follows a $135 million Series B funding round that valued the startup at about $2.6 billion last year. Sakana did not disclose an investment sum.

Through the deal, the US company gains the help of one of Japan's most valuable startups to promote Gemini in a cash-rich corporate landscape where it trails OpenAI's ChatGPT. At the same time, Sakana is able to tap Alphabet Inc.'s language models to develop products and enhance reliability in critical services, according to David Ha, the startup's co-founder and chief executive offic...