Artificial intelligenceChatbot startup meltly approached with $44m offer that swelled its valuationUsers can make custom AI characters they can chat with on meltly's Days AI app. (Photo by Nikkei)KEIKO SUGIYAMAMay 2, 2026 04:23 JSTTOKYO -- When Yuji Takahashi, the CEO of the AI chatbot startup meltly, met with a U.S. venture capital executive in a Tokyo office building, he was given an offer that was hard to refuse.