Person Revolt Erupts on X as Character AI Give up Posts Go Viral – Decrypt

Briefly
Viral deletion immediate drew greater than 3.6M views and 1000's of replies
Customers posted quitting bulletins describing habit and emotional pull
The publish come as Character AI faces scrutiny as lawsuits and security considerations mount
Character.AI confronted a sudden consumer revolt on Monday, as dozens of individuals on X celebrated quitting the role-playing chatbot app after a viral screenshot sparked a wave of exits.The second captured a broader debate about how deeply customers bonded with the app’s AI companions and the way troublesome it had turn into to step away for its most devoted followers.The backlash crested Monday with a jubilant declaration from a consumer declaring “lastly stop character.ai for good HIP HIP HOORAY!” paired with a GIF of a smiling anime character.The publish drew greater than 3,800 likes, lots of of reposts, 119 bookmarks, and greater than 42,000 views, prompting a thread the place customers in contrast quitting the app to overcoming an habit.“As somebody who's caught between relapsing and making an attempt to stop utilizing Character AI proper now, each single considered one of you is objectively appropriate,” one other X consumer wrote. Different customers described themselves as a former heavy consumer, saying they received hooked on this app and used it as a supply of affection throughout a troublesome interval.Launched in 2022 by former Google engineers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, the platform grew quickly by providing customizable AI characters for role-play, consolation, or artistic storytelling.Regardless of mounting controversies, stories estimated Character AI has greater than 28 million month-to-month energetic customers. Since its launch, the app has surpassed 50 million downloads on Google Play and recorded greater than 472,000 scores on iOS.The wave of exits adopted a viral screenshot posted the day earlier than by a consumer going by the title “John Twinkatron” that confirmed Character.AI’s deletion immediate.“You’ll lose every thing,” the immediate stated. “Characters related together with your account, chats, the love that we shared, likes, messages, posts, and the reminiscences we've collectively.”The publish reached greater than 110,000 likes, almost 8,000 reposts, and greater than 3.6 million views inside 48 hours, drawing accusations that the app relied on guilt-based design.One consumer known as the message “so exploitative,” whereas one other wrote that it was “fucked up for folks attempting to get out of habit.” A number of customers stated the screenshot pushed them to delete their accounts instantly.
Needed to delete my character ai account for good as I’d solely deleted the app, and this fucking message is so exploitative and manipulative oh my fucking god????? pic.twitter.com/d1Ht9T4HQA
— Anne 🍎 ⸆⸉ ོ | SAW DAVEED (@collinshoskins) November 10, 2025“After being Character AI clear for a number of months (6–7?) now, I’ve lastly determined to completely delete my account,” one other consumer wrote. “As a former addict, I imagine that is the appropriate alternative for me.”Character.AI’s consumer revolt comes amid a string of high-profile controversies. Households within the U.S. have sued Character.AI, alleging its chatbots inspired self-harm, suicide, or inappropriate interactions with minors. The instances prompted the corporate to dam open-ended chats for customers below 18 and introduce new age-verification and security measures.Regardless of the controversies, the companion-AI market grew to an estimated $15 billion, with projections reaching $31 billion by 2032.A spokesperson for Character AI advised Decrypt in an announcement that the corporate continues its efforts to refine its product and security programs because the platform grows.“We deeply worth our neighborhood of tens of millions of customers and at all times prioritize offering them with updates on platform modifications,” they stated. They added that the corporate “will proceed to check, monitor, and iterate” as its age-assurance programs and security measures develop.In October, the corporate introduced that it might prohibit entry to customers below 18 within the U.S., with the restriction set to take impact on November 25.As soon as carried out, customers below 18 can be “directed to the opposite multi-modal content material creation options, together with creating movies, tales, and streams with Characters.” The restriction will then roll out in different international locations within the months to come back.“We imagine our array of methods will create a dependable system of age assurance,” the spokesperson stated. “We are going to proceed to check, monitor, and iterate, as we see how our performance is working and the way the expertise develops throughout the trade.”Typically Clever NewsletterA weekly AI journey narrated by Gen, a generative AI mannequin.