Character.AI released its mobile app in early 2023, promising users the opportunity to create their own customizable genAI chatbots. Character’s founders clearly thought individualized bot interactions would be a winning business formula, but, for the most part, it has caused the startup nothing but grief.

In addition to fielding controversy over the kinds of racy characters that users have been allowed to create, numerous lawsuits have alleged that the company’s chatbots have spurred certain young users to commit self-harm and suicide. Now, Character.AI says it’s throwing in the towel and has decided to ban young users from interacting with their chatbots at all.

In a blog post published on Wednesday, Character.AI announced that it would be sunsetting access to chats for users un

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