The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Ada Support Inc., the Toronto-based company that makes AI customer service software for businesses, has agreed to combine with U.S. company Dialpad in an all-share deal valuing the Canadian enterprise at around $430-million (all figures U.S.). A triple-bylined item led by Sean Silcoff says that is down from Ada's $1.2-billion valuation when it raised money at the peak of the pandemic tech bubble in a $130-million financing round led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Spark Capital. At the time, that financing made it part of a cohort of Canadian unicorns, privately held tech companies that achieve a valuation of $1-billion or more. Facing questions about how much large-language-model-powered artificial-intelligence software would disrupt the market, Ada went on to make a series of layoffs and cost cuts, including eliminating half its marketing staff in July and laying off 25 employees last week. The company sold a software system that let businesses set up their own customer service chatbots, initially using prewritten scripts. The company's website lists customers including Caribbean telco Digicel, Indigo Books, Shopify and Telus among its clients.