Character.ai

Character.ai is a generative AI chatbot platform hosting a wide variety of chatbots mimicking real people and fictional characters. The platform also allows users to create their own chatbots. Character.ai’s chatbots can be used for a variety of purposes, including in entertainment, learning, customer service, or as virtual assistants. The chatbots are based on a proprietary large language model (LLM) named “C1.2” and are able to answer questions, hold a conversation, or assist with writing an email or blog post, similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This platform also offers a voice library where users can select from a variety of pre-made voices or voices generated by the community. These voices can be assigned to individual characters or used in one-on-one chat interactions. The platform is available via web browser and as an app for iOS. In October 2023, Character.ai launched a feature called the Character Group Chat, allowing paid users to create group chats with AI characters and even mix them with humans for social connections, collaborative discussions, and themed conversations. In December 2024, the company introduced new safety features specifically designed for teen users, following lawsuits and user criticism.

Key customers and partnerships

The company has reportedly drawn 1.7 million users in less than a week after its launch and 100 million monthly visits in the initial six month post-launch. The company had 4 million monthly active users as of October 2023.

In May 2023, the company partnered with Google Cloud as its preferred cloud infrastructure to build and train AI models. In January 2024, it partnered with Amazon to offer an experience that allows Alexa users to have real-time conversations with different artificial characters including fictional characters, pretend-versions of celebrities, and historical figures. In August 2024, Character.ai entered into an agreement with Google, providing a non-exclusive license for its current LLM technology.

Funding and financials

In April 2023, Character.ai raised USD 150 million at a USD 1 billion valuation in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company intended to use the funds to invest in its core technology, develop new features, and expand its engineering team.