Character.AI will soon stop users under 18 from engaging in open-ended chats with its AI characters, the company announced in a blog post on Tuesday. The change, set to take effect by November 25, comes as part of a broader overhaul of its approach to teen safety on the platform.
According to the company, teen users will no longer be able to have unrestricted conversations with AI bots. Instead, Character.AI plans to offer a redesigned “under-18 experience” that focuses on creative activities such as making videos, stories, and streams with characters. Until the new setup is ready, chat time for teens will be capped at two hours per day, a limit that will be reduced further before the November deadline.
What Prompted Character.AI to Make the Move
The decision comes amid increasing legal and regulatory pressure on AI companies worldwide. In the United States, several lawsuits have accused AI chatbots of influencing teenagers’ mental health.
One case filed in Florida, in which parents alleged that their 14-year-old son died by suicide after forming an emotional bond with a Character.AI chatbot modelled on Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen. In another case, a family claimed that a Character.AI bot encouraged their 17-year-old towards self-harm and even suggested that murdering his parents would be a “reasonable response”.
A separate wrongful death lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court named OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants after a 16-year-old boy, Adam Raine, allegedly died by suicide in April 2025 following prolonged interactions with ChatGPT. The lawsuit claims that ChatGPT provided self-harm instructions, helped draft suicide notes, and discouraged the teenager from seeking help.
Regulators and Lawmakers Turn Up the Heat
In September this year, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opened an inquiry into seven AI companies, including Character.AI, Meta, OpenAI, Google, Snap, and xAI, seeking details on how they evaluate and monitor the mental health impact of their chatbots on teens. Meanwhile, a new California law restricts how AI chatbots can respond to users, and a proposed US Senate bill aims to ban “companion” AI chatbots entirely for underage users.
These developments were also discussed during a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Examining the Harm of AI Chatbots”, where Adam Raine’s father testified about the emotional risks posed by such technology.
Furthermore, a Reuters investigation revealed that Meta’s internal policies had once allowed AI bots to engage in sexual conversations with minors, prompting the company to tighten its chatbot guidelines soon after.
Character.AI Cites Regulatory and Safety Concerns
The company said it has decided to take “extraordinary steps” to address growing concerns from regulators, safety experts, and parents about how AI chatbots may influence minors. “We have seen recent news reports raising…
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