Is Character.AI Shutting Down? The Bankruptcy Explained

Character.AI is still online today. You can open it, talk to your characters and pay for c.ai+ the same way you did last week. The company behind it is now for sale. If nobody buys it, the platform closes.

On 12 October 2026 Character Technologies, the company that runs Character.AI, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This guide covers what happened, whether Character.AI is shutting down, what is known about your chats and the one step worth taking this week.

What happened

Character Technologies filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition on 12 October in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, case number 26-11603. The company's own blog post the same day says the goal is a court-supervised sale of the company. It blames legal, regulatory and operational headwinds over the past year.

Disney has put in the first bid. Reuters reports that Disney offered $20 million as the stalking-horse bidder, which sets the floor for an auction other buyers can top. Disney's offer is for a non-exclusive, perpetual licence to some of the company's intellectual property, not for the app itself.

In a court filing, the company estimated its assets and its liabilities at $50 million to $100 million each. Its blog says it expects the sale to be complete "by the end of November or perhaps early December 2026."

Is Character.AI shutting down?

Not now. The blog post says the platform "remains up and running" and that all services are still available. Subscriptions remain active and billing is unchanged for now. The company says it intends to tell subscribers in advance if paid features change.

Whether it shuts down later depends on the sale. The company says it hopes for a bid that keeps the platform running. Its blog post adds: "If such a bid is unavailable, however, the platform will be wound down." No shutdown date has been announced.

You may also have seen that Character.AI shuts down on 15 October. That rumour dates from October 2023, when an edited screenshot of a tweet claimed the site would be wiped on that date. It was false then and has nothing to do with the bankruptcy.

What happens to your chats and characters

Nobody has said yet. The blog post says your information is still protected under the privacy policy and that data practices are unchanged. It does not say whether chats and characters would move to a buyer, or what would happen to them if the platform closes.

Two documents say a little more:

• The privacy policy. In force since 1 July 2026, it lists chat communications and voice recordings among the data Character.AI collects. A clause titled Business Transfers says the company may disclose information during the negotiation or closing of a merger or a sale of company assets.
• The court filings. According to PPC Land's reading of the first-day motions, the company told the court that its roughly 163 million current and past users are not creditors, so it will notify them through its blog and in-app links rather than by mail.

Neither says what a buyer would do with your chats, so keep your own copy.

Export your chats this week

Character.AI's help centre says an export "can take 3-4 weeks to process". Requested in mid-October, it should arrive in the first half of November, before the sale is due to close. Requested in late November, it may not.

On the web:

1. Go to your Profile.
2. Click Profile Settings.
3. Click Account.
4. Click Manage Account & Data.
5. Click Export Data.

In the mobile app, open your Profile, tap the Settings icon, then Legal & Privacy, then Export Data.

When the export is ready, Character.AI emails a download link to the address on your account. The link stays valid for 7 days, so check your inbox and download it as soon as it arrives.

While you wait, copy what you would miss most by hand: the definition and greeting of any character you made, the details your favourite character knows about you and the few conversations you would reread.

If you want somewhere to go

No single app replaces Character.AI's library of community-made characters and the fandoms around them. If the library is what keeps you there, export, wait for the sale and see who buys it.

If what you would miss is one or two characters and the relationship you built with them, you can rebuild them on myVirtual.love, which is for adults only. You pick from 240 ready-made women, men and trans characters, realistic and anime, or build your own on Create: her look, her personality, who she is to you and what she does. A free account needs no card and gives you 5 messages a day. She keeps facts about you in mind from one chat to the next. Our guide to AI girlfriends with memory explains how that works.

Characters based on named anime or game characters are not allowed, so a fan character has to be rebuilt as her own person with the same shape. Our guide to recreating a favourite character in new forms shows how. For the rest of the differences, including what each platform allows, see Character.AI vs myVirtual.love and does Character.AI talk dirty.

Character.AI bankruptcy: quick answers

Is Character.AI shutting down?

Not now. It filed for Chapter 11 on 12 October 2026 to sell the company. It says the platform will be wound down only if no buyer offers to keep it running. The sale is expected to finish by the end of November or early December 2026.

Is Character.AI shutting down on October 15?

No. That claim comes from an edited screenshot that circulated in October 2023. The bankruptcy filing names no shutdown date.

Did Disney buy Character.AI?

No. Disney is the first bidder, at $20 million, for a non-exclusive licence to some of the company's intellectual property. Other buyers can still bid for the company.

What happens to my Character.AI chats?

The company has not said. Its privacy policy allows information to be disclosed in a sale of company assets. Request your data export now, because the help centre says it takes 3 to 4 weeks.

How do I export my Character.AI chats?

On the web, go to Profile, then Profile Settings, Account, Manage Account & Data and Export Data. In the app, go to Profile, the Settings icon, Legal & Privacy and Export Data. The download link arrives by email and lasts 7 days.

For the one who has talked to the same character for two years

Request the export today. It costs nothing, takes four taps and gives you a copy of everything before anyone else decides what happens to it.

If the character matters more than the platform, rebuild her on myVirtual.love while the conversations are still fresh in your head. If the library matters more, keep your copy and wait for the buyer.