Character.AI filed for bankruptcy · 12 Oct 2026
Is Character AI down? Don’t lose your characters.
Character.AI is still online for now, but it has filed for bankruptcy and says it will shut down if no buyer is found by December. Bring your favourite characters to Promptchan and keep the conversation going.
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Character AI status
As of [Character.AI]
- App and website
- Online
- Company
- In Chapter 11 bankruptcy
- Sale ends
- Late Nov to early Dec 2026
- If no buyer
- Platform shuts down
Not loading for you right now? It is most likely a temporary outage, not the shutdown. A good moment to save your characters.
Pick a companion and keep talking
See them all →Everything you loved about Character.AI
Stays in character
Your companion keeps her personality through the whole conversation. Text in Chat mode, or direct a scene in Story mode.
She sends pics
Ask for a picture of the moment you are in: her outfit, the place, the mood. Right in the chat.
Hear her voice
Give her a voice, get voice messages, or call her (a voice message is 1 Gem, a call is 2).
Your character, rebuilt
Paste in your Character.AI character and keep talking. Your first custom character is free.
Move your Character.AI character in 2 minutes
No import tool needed. Copy, paste, keep talking.
- 1
Copy her from Character.AI
Name, greeting and description. Save them in a note before anything changes.
- 2
Paste her into Promptchan
Chat → Create a Character. Description goes in Personality, greeting in First message.
- 3
Pick up where you left off
Give her a look and a voice, then send a summary of your story as your first message.
Character.AI vs Promptchan
| Feature | Character.AI | Promptchan |
|---|---|---|
| Status, October 2026 | In a bankruptcy sale | Up and running |
| Build your own character | ||
| Voice messages and calls | ||
| Web, iOS and Android |
Also looking at Janitor AI, Talkie, Chai, PolyBuzz, Perchance, Nomi, Kindroid or Replika? If you want your own characters, voice and pictures in one place, start here. Free to start; plans from $14.99/month. See plans
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Character AI bankruptcy: is it shutting down?
Updated · By the Promptchan team (we make one of the alternatives, and we say so)
Not yet, but it might. Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 12 October 2026. It is still running while it is sold, and says it will be wound down if no suitable buyer comes forward by early December 2026. Subscriptions and billing are unchanged for now, and you can still export your data. [Character.AI]
›Timeline: from $2.7 billion to bankruptcy
August 2024
Google signs a licensing deal with Character.AI, reported at about $2.7 billion, and hires its founders. [CNBC]
October 2025
Character.AI announces it is ending open-ended chat for users under 18, after lawsuits and regulatory pressure over teen safety. [TechCrunch]
12 October 2026
Character.AI files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and starts a court-supervised sale. A Disney affiliate is the first bidder, at $20 million for selected intellectual property and software licences. [Character.AI]
Late November to early December 2026
The sale is expected to finish. Character.AI says that if no suitable bid comes in, the platform will be wound down. [Character.AI]
Its chief executive put the filing down to “significant legal, regulatory and operational headwinds”. [CNBC] [TechCrunch]
›What happens to your chats and characters
- Today: everything still works. Keep chatting, export your data or delete your account. [Character.AI]
- If a buyer is found: the service may carry on under new owners, who may change it. Its privacy policy lets user information pass to a buyer in a sale of assets. [NBC News]
- If no buyer is found: the platform will be wound down, and characters you have not saved go with it.
Frequently asked questions
›Is Character.AI down right now?
The bankruptcy has not switched Character.AI off: the company says the platform remains up and running. If it will not load for you, it is most likely an ordinary outage. Check Character.AI’s official channels, and use the time to save your characters.
›Is Character.AI shutting down?
Not yet. Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 12 October 2026 and is being sold through a court-supervised process expected to finish in late November or early December 2026. The service is still running, but Character.AI says that if no suitable buyer comes forward the platform will be wound down. (As of 16 October 2026.)
›Did Character AI file for bankruptcy?
Yes. Character Technologies, the company behind Character.AI, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 12 October 2026 and put the business up for sale under court supervision. The app is still running while the sale goes on.
›Why did Character.AI go bankrupt?
Its chief executive pointed to "significant legal, regulatory and operational headwinds". The company spent heavily on computing to run the service without earning enough to cover it, and faced lawsuits over the safety of teenage users.
›Is Disney buying Character AI?
Not the whole company. A Disney affiliate has agreed to pay $20 million for selected intellectual property and software licences, as the opening "stalking horse" bid in the court-supervised sale. Other buyers can still bid before the sale closes.
›What happens if Character AI shuts down?
Character.AI says that if no suitable buyer comes forward, the platform will be wound down. Characters and chats you have not saved would go with it, so export your data and copy your favourite characters now.
›How do I save my Character AI chats?
Request a data export from your account settings in the Character.AI app or website; Character.AI says this still works. Copy each character’s name, greeting and description into a note too, so you can rebuild it elsewhere. Do it now: if the platform is wound down, anything unsaved goes with it.
›What is the best Character AI alternative?
If you want to keep talking to the characters you made, Promptchan lets you rebuild them in a couple of minutes and carry on: AI companion chat with voice messages and calls, pictures from the conversation, Chat and Story modes, and your own custom characters. It is free to start.
›Can I move my Character.AI characters to Promptchan?
Yes, by hand, in a couple of minutes. Copy your character’s name, greeting and description, then use Create a Character in Promptchan Chat and paste them into Name, First message, Personality and Scenario. There is no automatic import.
›Is Promptchan free?
Yes. You can start chatting free with a message allowance that refills every few hours. Paid plans start at $14.99 a month for 2× chat usage; Pro ($33.99 a month) includes unlimited chat.
Sources
- Character.AI: An update on Character.ai (12 Oct 2026)
- CNBC (13 Oct 2026)
- TechCrunch (13 Oct 2026)
- NBC News (13 Oct 2026)
- TechCrunch (29 Oct 2025)
We update this page as the sale goes on. Last checked 16 October 2026.
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