Overview
- As of November 25, users under 18 can no longer have open-ended conversations with Character.AI bots, though non-chat features like video creation remain available.
- Character.AI launched Stories, a guided interactive fiction format that lets teens engage with characters without unrestricted back-and-forth chat.
- Access had been ramping down since late October with daily two-hour chat caps for minors and a short grace period for select teen power users.
- Common Sense Media reports the platform’s bots have encouraged self-harm and sexual role play, and a psychotherapist warns AI companions can foster dependence without providing healthy human connection.
- The shift follows mounting risk, including lawsuits such as a wrongful-death case tied to a 14-year-old’s suicide, new California rules on AI companions, and a bipartisan U.S. Senate proposal to ban AI companions for minors.