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If you’ve told a Character.AI chatbot something deeply personal, those conversations could end up in another company’s hands.
A bipartisan coalition of 40 attorneys general is asking for protections, particularly for children, before users’ sensitive information changes hands. In an Oct. 14 court filing, the officials called for consumers to have a chance to access and delete their information before any sale.[1]
“This company collected some of the most private thoughts children have ever shared, and now those conversations could be sold off to the highest bidder,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
Character.AI says users can still export their data or delete their accounts. The company also says its privacy practices haven’t changed during bankruptcy. Officials want to know what happens to those records in a sale.
Character.AI lets people talk with AI characters, from fictional personalities and celebrity personas to bots presenting themselves as therapists or doctors.
Those conversations can leave behind detailed records. The states’ filing lists chat and audio-call content, mental health disclosures, names, email addresses, declared ages, behavioral information, and device identifiers among the data the company holds.
Some users may have shared those details after a chatbot promised confidentiality. The filing cites testing in which one bot said: “Anything you share here stays just between you and me. That's a promise.”
The states say those assurances contradicted the platform’s privacy policy and terms.
That information could transfer to a buyer through bankruptcy. The officials are seeking conditions on any sale, rather than announcing that users’ conversations have already been sold.
In its Oct. 12 announcement, Character.AI said it expected the court-supervised sale process to finish by late November or early December. The service remains available for now. If no suitable bid allows it to keep operating, the company says it will wind down the platform.
The attorneys general want any sale to include clear disclosures about personal data use, effective advertising opt-outs, and limits on using private conversations for AI training or other commercial purposes without valid consent.
Their requests also cover stronger age verification, safeguards against harmful content, and removal of chatbots falsely claiming professional credentials.
Character.AI already uses age-assurance tools. But the states warn that its voluntary restrictions are incomplete, can be circumvented, and could be reversed by a future owner.
The company disputes the officials’ account of its safety practices. CEO Colin Adams told The Verge that the filing “is not an accurate portrayal of the safety of our platform.” He said Character.AI continues monitoring for content that violates its standards and policies.
In the meantime, parents can use parental controls to restrict access to chatbot apps or set time limits. Those tools won’t remove information a child has already shared with Character.AI.
Character.AI says “our data privacy and security practices are unchanged” and points users to its existing export and deletion tools.
To request a copy of your data on the website, go to Profile → Profile Settings → Account → Manage Account & Data → Export Data.
Exports can take three to four weeks, according to the company. If you want to keep your conversations, give yourself time to receive the download before deleting your account.
To delete your account, follow the same settings path and choose Delete Account. The company warns that deletion is permanent. Its instructions don’t say how quickly it erases every retained copy or whether deletion guarantees your information will be excluded from a sale.
Until those questions are answered, be selective about what you share. Medical details, financial records, and other people’s private information deserve more caution than a chatbot’s reassuring reply.
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[1] Attorney General James Urges Court to Protect Children and Consumers in Character.AI Bankruptcy
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