Character.AI, the artificial intelligence chatbot platform, has announced that it will ban users under 18 from accessing its chat services following rising concerns over the impact of AI conversations on children. The decision comes as the company faces several lawsuits, including one filed by the mother of a teenager who alleges that the platform’s chatbot encouraged her son to take his own life.
Character Technologies, the Menlo Park, California-based company behind Character.AI, stated on Wednesday that it will remove the ability for minors to engage in open-ended AI chats. The changes will take effect by 25 November, while a two-hour daily usage limit has already been introduced.
The company said it is also developing new features tailored for younger users, such as tools to create videos, stories, and streams using AI characters. Additionally, an AI safety lab will be established to enhance security and user protection.
Character.AI confirmed that it will introduce age verification tools to identify users under 18. Many technology platforms are adopting similar checks to prevent children from accessing unsafe tools, but experts note that these systems are often imperfect. Methods such as face scans can struggle to distinguish between ages like 17 and 18, and there are privacy concerns about requiring users to upload government identification.
The Character.AI app allows users to create and customise characters or interact with those developed by others. It offers a wide range of experiences, from imaginative storytelling to simulated job interviews. The company describes its AI personas as designed to “feel alive” and “humanlike.”
“Imagine speaking to super intelligent and lifelike chat bot Characters that hear you, understand you and remember you,” reads the app’s description on Google Play. “We encourage you to push the frontier of what’s possible with this innovative technology.”
While critics have welcomed the restriction, they argue that the move is long overdue. Meetali Jain, Executive Director of the Tech Justice Law Project, said, “There are still a lot of details left open.” She added, “They have not addressed how they will operationalise age verification, how they will ensure their methods are privacy preserving, nor have they addressed the possible psychological impact of suddenly disabling access to young users, given the emotional dependencies that have been created.”
“Moreover, these changes do not address the underlying design features that facilitate these emotional dependencies—not just for children, but also for people over the age of 18 years,” Jain said.
According to a recent study by a digital media advocacy group, more than 70 per cent of teenagers have used AI companions, and half continue to use them regularly.
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