Facebook has acquired Servicefriend, which builds 'hybrid' chatbots, for Calibra customer service – TechCrunch

As Facebook prepares to launch its new cryptocurrency Libra in 2020, it's putting the pieces in place to help it run. In one of the latest developments, it has acquired Servicefriend, a startup that built bots -- chat clients for messaging apps based on artificial intelligence -- to help customer service teams, TechCrunch has confirmed. The news was first reported in Israel, where Servicefriend is based, after one of its investors, Roberto Singler, alerted local publication The Marker about the deal. We reached out to Ido Arad, one of the co-founders of the company, who referred our questions to a team at Facebook. "We acquire smaller tech companies from time to time. We don't always discuss our plans," a Facebook spokesperson said.