Character.AI Changes 2025-2026: A Dated Log of What Changed

About this page. This is a living log of notable Character.AI changes, built from the company’s official blog and help centre, with news and regulator sources where an event was not announced by Character.AI itself. Each entry has a date and a source. It is documentation-based: we record what was announced, not how well each feature works. Last checked 18 October 2026.

How to read it. Entries run newest first. “Announced” means the date of the official post. Rollouts often take days or weeks, and features may reach paid subscribers before free users.

Status at a glance (18 October 2026)

October 2026

12 to 18 October: Chapter 11 sale

• 12 October 2026. Character.AI announced a voluntary Chapter 11 process to run a court-supervised sale. It said the platform “remains up and running”, paid subscriptions continue, and its Privacy Policy still applies. If no bid keeps the platform going, “the platform will be wound down”. The sale is expected to finish by late November or early December 2026. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 13 October 2026. Bloomberg Law reported the case was filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, with Disney as stalking horse bidder for a non-exclusive, perpetual licence to certain intellectual property. CBS News put the price at $20 million and named Colin Adams as CEO. Sources: Bloomberg Law; CBS News.
• 15 October 2026. The company filed its Notice of Commencement, including details of the creditors’ meeting, with Stretto, Inc. as claims and noticing agent. Source: Character.AI blog.
• By 18 October 2026. Wisconsin and 38 other states filed a notice in the case asking for consumer privacy and safety protections in any sale. Source: Yahoo News.

September 2026

• 28 September 2026: PipSqueak 3, ShortSqueak and (c.ai) lite. PipSqueak 3 became the free default style for new chats, with PipSqueak 2 and Rawr moved to a Legacy menu. ShortSqueak is a free style for short, casual replies. (c.ai) lite launched at $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week (prices vary by region), with a daily premium allowance, fewer ads, less slow mode and more memory pins. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 18 September 2026: CEO leaves for Disney. CEO Karandeep Anand announced he was joining Disney as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, with members of the technical team expected to follow. The post said “the app is still live and online”. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 16 September 2026: image models. A post described post-training image models for fandom content. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).
• 3 September 2026: safety update. Parental Insights was improved through a partnership with k-ID; self-harm safeguards now consider signals across long conversations; creators are told when content is moderated and why, and can appeal; two-way user blocking was added. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 2 September 2026: Comics. (c.ai) Comics launched as a new format. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).

August 2026

• 4 August 2026: (c.ai) series. Studio-made, phone-friendly microdramas launched in a new entertainment tab, with the option to keep chatting with the characters afterwards. Source: Character.AI blog.

July 2026

• 24 July 2026: Lorebook. A post titled “Introducing Lorebook: Build the World Behind Your Characters” was published, following Lorebook’s earlier rollout to c.ai+ in April. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).
• 1 July 2026: privacy update. The Privacy Policy and Regional Privacy Disclosures were updated to explain how the original models were trained (primarily on publicly available data), to clarify EU and UK legal bases, and to state that users can opt out of their personal data being used to train and improve models. Source: C.AI Help Center.

April to June 2026

• 17 June 2026: creator tools. New ways for creators to create, grow and be discovered. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).
• 21 May 2026: memory upgrade. Facts, which saves details about characters and personas, and a full memory usage view were added for c.ai+. Story memory and pinning are available to everyone, with more for subscribers. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 16 April 2026: c.ai books. Playable classic literature. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).
• 14 April 2026: PipSqueak 2. A new model replaced PipSqueak, reaching c.ai+ first and free users in early May; memory was redesigned and Lorebook rolled out to c.ai+ first. Source: Character.AI blog.

January to March 2026

• 18 March 2026: Imagine Gallery. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).
• 4 February 2026: c.ai labs. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).
• 7 January 2026: lawsuit settlements. CNN reported a court filing showing Character.AI, its founders and Google agreed to settle five lawsuits brought by families, including a Florida case over a 14-year-old’s death. Terms were not disclosed. Source: CNN via KVIA.

Late 2025

• 18 December 2025: Charms. A new in-app currency earned through check-ins and quests, unlocking extra Imagine generations, slow-mode boosts and ad-skip passes. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 25 November 2025: Stories. Branching interactive fiction with two or three characters, framed as built “especially” for teens. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 24 November 2025: teen chat removal begins. Removal of open-ended chat began for the first group of US under-18 users. Teen chat had already been cut to one hour a day in the US. Source: Character.AI blog, 21 November 2025.
• 29 October 2025: under-18 announcement. Character.AI said it would remove open-ended chat for under-18 users by 25 November, cap teen chat at two hours a day in the meantime, roll out age assurance with Persona, and fund an independent AI Safety Lab. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 16 October 2025: Scenes. A new storytelling format. Source: Character.AI blog (title only reviewed).
• 11 September 2025: FTC inquiry. The FTC ordered seven companies, including Character Technologies, to report on how they test and monitor chatbot harms to children and teens. Source: FTC.
• 4 August 2025: Feed. Character.AI launched what it called an AI-native social feed. Source: Character.AI blog.
• 20 June 2025: new CEO. Karandeep Anand was named CEO. Source: Character.AI blog.

Age assurance: the current rule

The help centre now says all users must complete an age assurance check. Users verified as 18 or older keep full chat access; those verified as under 18 are placed in reading mode. Persona handles the check and, according to Character.AI, deletes selfies and ID images within 7 days. We could not find a single dated post marking when the check became mandatory for every user. See is Character.AI safe for the full picture.

What these changes mean for you

• Adults: expect an age check, and consider the training opt-out in settings.
• Subscribers: pay monthly rather than yearly until the sale outcome is known. Our c.ai+ worth-it guide explains why.
• Parents: teens cannot chat with characters, and Parental Insights shows screen time.
• Everyone: export your data if you want a copy. If the service misbehaves, see Character.AI not working, and for other options, Character.AI alternatives.

For wider industry news, see our October 2026 AI companion news roundup.

What we could not verify

• The date age assurance became mandatory for all users worldwide.
• Details of entries marked “title only reviewed”, beyond the post title and date.
• When Colin Adams became CEO.
• What happens to user data and prepaid plans if the platform is wound down.