Overview
- Character.AI will remove open chats for users under 18 on November 25, ending minors' access to customizable character conversations.
- Until the cutoff, under-18 accounts are limited to two hours of daily chat use, with new age verification rolling out to enforce the policy.
- The company will create and fund an independent nonprofit AI Safety Laboratory to study safeguards for entertainment-focused AI.
- The moves follow the death of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III after weeks of exchanges with a Daenerys Targaryen persona and a lawsuit filed by his mother.
- The FTC opened an investigation in September into minors’ use of AI tools across Character.AI and other firms, while OpenAI plans age-verified erotic content in December.