Character.AI Terms of Service Review 2026 | Fairness Score 42/100 (Grade C-)

Name: Character.AI Terms of Service: Automated Consumer Fairness Assessment
Creator: Terms.Law Watchdog (automated methodology)
Published: 2026-07-08
License: https://terms.law/ToS-Watchdog/methodology/

✅ What Should I Do? Action Plan

Character.AI is a companion-chat and roleplay platform, which makes the content license and the conversation data more personal than on a work tool. Pick the column that matches you. The clause references reflect the Terms of Service last updated August 27, 2025; confirm the current wording before relying on any step.

👤 Everyday user

Casual chats, roleplay, creative writing

Decide about arbitration in your first 30 days: the Terms let you opt out by emailing arbitration@character.ai within 30 days of first agreeing, stating you do not want to resolve disputes by arbitration. Keep a copy of the email.
Assume permanence. The Terms grant the company a perpetual, irrevocable license to your submitted content and Generated Content that survives account deletion, so treat every chat as something you cannot fully pull back.
Keep real-world identifiers out of chats: full names, addresses, school or employer names, health details, photos of real people. The conversations feel private; contractually they are licensed content.
Do not build Characters on real people. The Terms prohibit using a person's name, likeness, or persona without permission outside parody or commentary, and prohibit deepfakes and impersonation on voice features.
If you plan to make a Character public, remember the privacy policy warns that popular Characters can stay on the service even if you later delete your account and data.

💼 Creator / commercial user

Writers, character designers, anyone monetizing

Read the Generated Content clause before you invest: you own your Characters and Generated Content, but the license back to the company is perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, and expressly includes the right to commercialize.
Other users can remix: the Terms give the company the right to let other users create content that remixes or uses portions of what you submitted. Exclusivity is not on the table.
Do not upload manuscripts, art, or IP you plan to exploit elsewhere unless you are comfortable with the license breadth. Keep your master files off the platform.
The Terms prohibit submitting content that seeks to provide medical, legal, financial, or tax advice. A professional-advice bot on the platform is a Terms violation, not just a bad idea.
Note the one-year claims bar and the $100 liability cap when weighing any business dependence on the service. Contractual recourse is thin.

⚠ Already affected

Banned, content removed, or a minor's account

Banned or content removed? The Terms allow sole-discretion termination for any reason without prior notice. You can still contact support@character.ai and ask for the specific ground; keep a written record.
Mind the clock: the Terms bar claims filed more than one year after they arose, and the arbitration path starts with a certified-mail Notice of Dispute and a 60-day negotiation window.
If you opted out of arbitration in your first 30 days, court remains open (small-claims is available either way, subject to the clause's conditions).
Parents: the Terms set a floor of 13 (16 in the EEA/UK), and the company announced removal of open-ended chat for under-18 users effective November 25, 2025. If a minor's account predates that, review the account and the company's parental resources, and consider a data deletion request under the privacy policy.
Data exposure or deletion questions are privacy-policy territory: see the companion Character.AI Privacy Policy review for the deletion path and its limits.

ℹ

The single highest-leverage step is the 30-day arbitration opt-out. It costs one email, does not affect any other part of the Terms (the clause says so), and preserves your right to a judge, jury, and class action if something ever goes seriously wrong. Automated assessment, as of July 8, 2026.

⚠ Key Clauses to Watch

Automated assessment, as of July 8, 2026. Each flag below is an opinion drawn from the published Terms of Service (Last Updated: August 27, 2025), with the operative language quoted. Verify the current sources before relying on this.

Perpetual, irrevocable license to everything you submit

High Risk

You keep whatever ownership you started with, but the license you grant is about as broad as a content license gets: perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable, and it expressly includes the rights to modify, exploit, and commercialize your content for any Character.AI-related purpose.

“You grant Character.AI, to the fullest extent permitted under the law, a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, transmit, make available, store, modify, exploit, commercialize and otherwise use the content for any Character.AI-related purpose in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed” Character.AI Terms of Service, Intellectual Property Rights (Content You Submit) · character.ai/tos

You “own” Characters and Generated Content, minus the substance

High Risk

The Terms say you own the Characters you create and your Generated Content. The same paragraph then licenses all of it back to the company, this time “for any purpose,” including letting other users interact with your Character and promoting the service. Title stays with you; practical control does not.

“In both cases, you grant Character.AI, to the fullest extent permitted under the law, a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, transmit, make available, store, access, modify, exploit, commercialize and otherwise use the Character and all Generated Content for any purpose” Character.AI Terms of Service, Intellectual Property Rights (Generated Content) · character.ai/tos

The license survives account termination

High Risk

Deleting your account does not unwind the license. The termination section says so directly, which means content and Characters you created can remain part of the company's licensed rights after you leave.

“Termination of your account or access to any component of the Services will not terminate Character.AI’s rights to your Content.” Character.AI Terms of Service, Termination · character.ai/tos

Termination for any reason, sole discretion, no prior notice

High Risk

This is the older, broader style of termination clause: any reason, including inactivity or a perceived violation of the “spirit” of the Terms, effective without prior notice, with the company disclaiming liability for the termination itself. Compare OpenAI's current terms, which enumerate grounds and offer an appeal.

“You agree that Character.AI, in its sole discretion, may suspend or terminate your account (or any part thereof) or use of the Services and remove and discard any content within the Services, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if Character.AI believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms.” Character.AI Terms of Service, Termination · character.ai/tos

Mandatory JAMS arbitration and class-action waiver

High Risk

Disputes go to final and binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS, with jury-trial and class-action waivers, a certified-mail Notice of Dispute and 60-day negotiation requirement first, and a bellwether process for mass arbitrations. There is a 30-day email opt-out and a small-claims carve-out.

“You and Character.AI agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and Character.AI... shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than a court... JAMS will administer the arbitration... you and Character.AI are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.” Character.AI Terms of Service, Dispute Resolution By Binding Arbitration · character.ai/tos

$100 liability cap plus a Section 1542 release

High Risk

Liability is capped at the greater of $100 or what you paid, and a separate bolded clause has you release and indemnify the company for “any and all losses” arising out of or relating to your use, with California residents waiving Civil Code Section 1542 (the statute that normally protects you from releasing claims you do not know about yet).

“In no event will Character.AI’s total liability to you for all damages, losses or causes of action exceed the greater of: (i) $100; or (ii) the amount you paid Character.AI (if any) in connection with your use of the Services.” Character.AI Terms of Service, Limitation of Liability · character.ai/tos

One-year deadline to bring any claim

Medium Risk

The Terms compress every claim into a one-year window regardless of the statute of limitations that would otherwise apply. Many consumer claims carry two-, three-, or four-year statutes; this clause purports to cut all of them to one (with an EEA carve-out). Enforceability varies by state and claim, but do not count on beating it.

“You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Website or these Terms must be filed within one year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.” Character.AI Terms of Service, General (Expiration of Claims) · character.ai/tos

AS IS, and the contract tells you the chats may be wrong or offensive

Medium Risk

The Services are provided AS IS with all warranties disclaimed, and the Terms state plainly that AI-generated chats are unpredictable and may be inaccurate or offensive, with all risk on you. For a product built around emotionally engaging conversation, that allocation of risk is worth reading twice.

“You acknowledge that we do not pre-screen content and that AI-generated chats, by their nature, are unpredictable and may produce Generated Content that is inaccurate or offensive. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any content or Generated Content.” Character.AI Terms of Service, Intellectual Property Rights (Third-Party Material) · character.ai/tos

No refunds, and storage can be deleted without liability

Medium Risk

Subscription payments are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise (app-store purchases route through Apple or Google refund processes). Separately, the Terms disclaim any responsibility for deleting or failing to store your data, and reserve the right to change retention practices at any time without notice.

“Payments are non-refundable, except where required by law.” ... “You agree that Character.AI has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any data or other content maintained or uploaded to the Services.” Character.AI Terms of Service, Paid Accounts (Cancellation); Use of the Services (General Practices) · character.ai/tos

✓

What the terms get right. A 30-day arbitration opt-out by plain email (arbitration@character.ai) with an express promise that opting out does not affect the rest of the Terms; a small-claims carve-out; a right to reject future changes to the arbitration agreement and keep the version you accepted; ownership of Characters and Generated Content placed with the user as between the parties; 30 days notice before subscription price increases, taking effect only at the next renewal; material Terms changes effective no earlier than 30 days after posting; a documented DMCA notice and counter-notice process; and EEA consumer carve-outs on liability, claims expiration, and governing law. Automated assessment, as of July 8, 2026.

🔎 Go Deeper

The detail behind the score: how the content license actually operates, how Character.AI compares with the chat assistants, where the minors story stands, and what never belongs in a companion chat. Each block is collapsed; open what is relevant to you.

🔒 The content license, unpacked clause by clause

Three separate grants stack on top of each other in the Intellectual Property Rights section:

1. Content you submit. Anything you post or transmit (text, images, sounds, video, data) carries the perpetual, irrevocable, commercializable license quoted above, limited to “any Character.AI-related purpose.” The same clause lets the company pass the content and the rights to “others with whom we have contractual relationships” and to let other users remix it.

2. Characters you create. You own the Character as between you and the company, but the license back is “for any purpose,” expressly including letting other users interact with your Character and elicit Generated Content from it, and promoting the service on or off platform.

3. Generated Content. Same structure: you own it, the company holds a perpetual license to it for any purpose.

⚠

The asymmetry to notice: the license to content you submit is limited to Character.AI-related purposes; the license to Characters and Generated Content is “for any purpose.” Combined with survival after termination and the feedback clause (anything you suggest is non-confidential and usable without compensation), the practical reading under this methodology is: assume nothing you create on the platform is exclusively yours in use, even though it is yours in name. Automated assessment, as of July 8, 2026.

One more wrinkle: the Terms note your use may be subject to the CreativeML OpenRAIL-M license for image features, which carries its own use restrictions. And U.S. copyright protection for purely AI-generated material is separately uncertain, so the “ownership” you receive in Generated Content may be thinner than it sounds regardless of the contract.

⚖ Character.AI vs OpenAI vs Anthropic: side by side

Character.AI's terms read closer to a social-media platform's than to the current generation of AI-assistant terms. The ToS Watchdog scores, which reflect the methodology's opinion-based read: Anthropic 72 (B), OpenAI 55 (C+), Character.AI 42 (C-). Each rating is an evaluative read of the company's own published terms, not a statement of objective fact.

Dimension	Character.AI	OpenAI (ChatGPT)	Anthropic (Claude)
Fairness score	42 / C-	55 / C+	72 / B
License to your content (per published terms)	Perpetual, irrevocable, commercializable; survives termination	Use to provide and improve services; training opt-out	Narrower; consumer chats not used for training by default
Output ownership (as between the parties)	You own it, but license back “for any purpose”	Assigned to you	Assigned to you
Termination style (automated read)	Any reason, sole discretion, no prior notice	Enumerated grounds, appeal offered	Enumerated grounds
Arbitration	JAMS, class waiver, 30-day opt-out	NAM, class waiver, 30-day opt-out	Arbitration with opt-out
Claims deadline	1 year	Statutory	Statutory

Scores reflect an automated read of each company's published terms at the time of review. Companies revise these documents, so treat the comparison as a snapshot. See the full OpenAI review and Anthropic review for the detail behind each grade.

🎯 Companion-chat use-case risk matrix

Not every use of Character.AI carries the same exposure. Here is how the methodology ranks common ones by how much caution they call for:

Lower risk

Fiction and worldbuilding with invented characters

Original fantasy roleplay with no real names or personal facts. The license still applies, but the personal exposure is low.

Moderate

Public Characters you may want back later

Popular public Characters can persist after you delete your account, and other users can remix your content. Publish only what you can let go of.

Moderate

Chats that double as a diary

Venting is human, but the contract treats those messages as licensed content, and the privacy policy allows their use to train models and tailor ads.

High risk

Real people as Characters

The Terms prohibit appropriating a real person's name, likeness, or persona without permission outside parody or commentary, and ban deepfakes on voice features. Right-of-publicity claims are personal exposure for you, not the platform.

High risk

Emotional-support reliance

The contract disclaims accuracy, warns output may be offensive, and prohibits content seeking to provide medical or mental-health advice. A companion chatbot is not care, and the Terms are built to make that your problem.

Critical

Minors using an adult's account

The published Terms set a 13+ floor (16 EEA/UK), and the company moved under-18 users out of open-ended chat as of November 25, 2025. Letting a minor use an adult login defeats every safeguard and the age-assurance system.

👪 The minors story: what is documented, without the noise

Because this platform's minors history is widely discussed, here is what the published record actually shows, kept separate from the fairness score. All items are sourced and dated; allegations in complaints are unproven, and settlements are not admissions of liability.

The contract floor: the Terms bar signup under 13 (under 16 in the EEA/UK), and the User Conduct rules prohibit soliciting personal information from anyone under 18 and content that sexualizes minors or promotes self-harm.
October 29, 2025: Character.AI announced it would remove the ability for users under 18 to engage in open-ended chat by November 25, 2025, phased in through daily time limits, and would deploy age-assurance tools combining an in-house model with third-party vendors including Persona (company blog; reported by TechCrunch and CNN the same day).
January 7, 2026: a court filing in Garcia v. Character Technologies (M.D. Fla., filed October 2024, the first wrongful-death suit against an AI chatbot company) reported a settlement agreement among the plaintiff, Character Technologies, its founders, and Google, with 90 days to finalize; related suits in New York, Colorado, and Texas were also reported settled. Terms were not public as of this assessment (reported by CNN Business, January 7, 2026).
January 1, 2026: California's SB 243 took effect, the first state law regulating companion chatbots. It requires AI disclosure, break reminders for known minors, protocols against self-harm content, and creates a private right of action with statutory damages of at least $1,000 per violation (Cal. Legislature, SB 243, 2025-2026 session).

ℹ

Why the score does not include this. The Consumer Fairness Index scores the written terms, not the company's conduct or pending litigation. The published Terms of Service analyzed here have not been updated since August 27, 2025, which itself is notable: the under-18 product changes announced in October 2025 are not yet reflected in the contract's text as of July 8, 2026. Verify the current version before relying on this.

🚫 Data-minimization: what NOT to put in a companion chat

The cleanest strategy is to keep sensitive material out of the conversation entirely. Companion chats invite disclosure in a way a work tool does not; before you hit send, scan for anything on this list:

Your full name, address, school, or employer, or anyone else's
Photos, voice recordings, or videos of real people (the voice rules prohibit recordings of real people without consent)
Health and mental-health details you would not want retained, licensed, or used to tailor advertising
Anything about a minor, yours or anyone else's
Financial details, account credentials, or government ID numbers
Creative work you intend to commercialize exclusively elsewhere
Anything covered by an NDA or professional duty

✓

A habit that works: keep the emotional truth, drop the identifiers. A character named after nobody, in a city that does not exist, gives you the same creative experience without handing over a licensed, retained record of your real life.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Can Character.AI use my chats commercially?

Under the published Terms, yes within the license scope: the grant covers copying, modifying, exploiting, and commercializing your submitted content for any Character.AI-related purpose, and Characters and Generated Content “for any purpose.” The privacy policy separately governs personal data. Automated read as of July 8, 2026; verify the current sources.

If I delete my account, is my content gone?

Not necessarily as a matter of contract. The Terms state termination does not end the company's rights to your Content, and the privacy policy reserves the right to keep popular public Characters active even after you delete your data and account. Deletion of personal data is a separate privacy-policy process with its own limits.

Can I sue Character.AI in court?

By default, no: disputes go to individual JAMS arbitration with a class-action waiver. Exceptions: small-claims court, agency complaints, and anything non-arbitrable under law. If you email arbitration@character.ai within 30 days of first agreeing to the Terms, you preserve your court rights entirely. Either way, the Terms purport to bar claims filed more than one year after they arose.

Do minors' protections appear in the Terms?

Partly. The Terms set the age floor (13, or 16 EEA/UK) and prohibit soliciting personal information from minors. The under-18 product changes announced in October 2025 (removal of open-ended chat, age assurance) are operational policies and, as of July 8, 2026, are not written into the Terms text, which was last updated August 27, 2025.

Is Character.AI safe for business use?

Under this methodology it is the wrong tool for confidential or client material: the perpetual commercial license, the remix right, the no-liability storage clause, and the $100 cap leave essentially all risk with you. There is no business tier, no DPA offering, and no confidentiality commitment in the consumer Terms. Use an enterprise AI product with a data processing agreement instead.

⚖

"The bottom line under this methodology: Character.AI's terms concentrate an unusual amount of power on the company's side of the table. You nominally own your Characters and Generated Content, but the perpetual, irrevocable, commercializable license, the remix right, and survival after termination hollow that ownership out in practice. Add sole-discretion termination without notice, a $100 cap with a Section 1542 release, a one-year claims bar, and mandatory JAMS arbitration, and the score lands at 42. The two moves that matter most for a user: send the arbitration opt-out email within your first 30 days, and treat every chat as a licensed, potentially permanent record rather than a private conversation."

Automated assessment by Terms.Law Watchdog methodology, as of July 8, 2026.

This page is an automated, opinion-based methodology assessment of Character.AI's published terms, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Terms and privacy policies change; verify the current language in your own account and Character.AI's published documents before relying on anything here. For a question specific to your situation, you can email the facts and any documents to owner@terms.law.

Frequently Asked Questions

Automated methodology assessment of Character.AI's published Terms of Service, as of July 8, 2026. Each answer is an opinion drawn from the published terms; the quoted clause carries the weight. Verify the current sources before relying on this. This is general legal information, not legal advice.

⚖

Ownership is not control: owning your Character does not limit the license. The Terms say you own your Characters and Generated Content, but the same clause grants Character.AI a perpetual, irrevocable license to use them “for any purpose,” including commercialization, and the Termination section says ending your account “will not terminate Character.AI’s rights to your Content.” Owning the title and controlling the use are two different things under these Terms. Automated assessment, as of July 8, 2026; verify the current sources.

ℹ

The 30-day window matters twice. Within 30 days of first agreeing to the Terms you can opt out of arbitration entirely (email arbitration@character.ai). And if the company later changes the arbitration agreement, you get another 30-day window to reject that specific change and keep the version you accepted. Both are use-them-or-lose-them rights. Automated assessment, as of July 8, 2026; verify the current sources.

Who owns the Characters I create and the chats Character.AI generates?

Formally, you do: the Terms state that, as between you and Character.AI, you own the Characters you create and your Generated Content, and you retain whatever ownership you had in content you submit. Practically, the license you grant back is nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, and irrevocable, covers modification, exploitation, and commercialization, extends to letting other users remix your content and interact with your Characters, and survives account termination. U.S. copyright protection for purely AI-generated material is separately uncertain, so do not assume exclusive rights in what the service generates. Automated methodology assessment, opinion based on the published terms as of 2026-07-08; verify the current sources.

“When you create an automated AI character ("Character") using the Services in accordance with these Terms, then as between you and Character.AI, you own all rights in that Character... In both cases, you grant Character.AI, to the fullest extent permitted under the law, a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to... use the Character and all Generated Content for any purpose”Character.AI Terms of Service, Intellectual Property Rights (Generated Content) · character.ai/tos

Can Character.AI suspend or terminate my account, and what happens to my content?

The Terms permit suspension or termination in the company's sole discretion, for any reason, including inactivity or a perceived violation of the letter or spirit of the Terms, effective without prior notice, with the company disclaiming liability for the termination. The Terms also state that termination does not end the company's rights to your Content. A narrow counterweight: the Terms acknowledge that if your account is terminated or content removed in breach of the Terms, you may have a right to bring proceedings for breach of contract where local law grants one. Automated methodology assessment, opinion based on the published terms as of 2026-07-08; verify the current sources.

“You agree that any termination of your access to the Services under any provision of these Terms may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that Character.AI may (but has no obligation to) immediately deactivate or delete your account and all related information and files in your account and/or bar any further access to such files or the Services.”Character.AI Terms of Service, Termination · character.ai/tos

Does Character.AI have an arbitration clause and class-action waiver?

Yes. Disputes go to final and binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS, with jury-trial and class-action waivers, a certified-mail Notice of Dispute plus 60-day negotiation requirement, confidential proceedings, and a bellwether process for mass arbitrations of 75 or more claimants. Small-claims court and agency complaints are carved out. You can opt out within 30 days of first agreeing by emailing arbitration@character.ai. Separately, the Terms bar any claim filed more than one year after it arose, an aggressive compression of normal limitations periods (with an EEA carve-out). Automated methodology assessment, opinion based on the published terms as of 2026-07-08; verify the current sources.

“You and Character.AI agree that, by entering into these Terms, you and Character.AI are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.”Character.AI Terms of Service, Dispute Resolution By Binding Arbitration (Jury Trial and Class Action Waivers) · character.ai/tos

“...any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Website or these Terms must be filed within one year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.”Character.AI Terms of Service, General (Expiration of Claims) · character.ai/tos

Should I accept Character.AI's terms?

Under the published Watchdog methodology these terms score 42/100 (Grade C-). What pulls the score down: the perpetual, irrevocable, commercializable content license that survives termination; the remix right; sole-discretion termination without prior notice; the $100 liability cap with a Section 1542 release and one-way indemnity; the one-year claims bar; and mandatory JAMS arbitration with a class-action waiver. What helps: user-side ownership of Characters and Generated Content as between the parties, the 30-day arbitration opt-out, the small-claims carve-out, and 30-day notice rules for price increases and material changes. Whether to accept is a personal decision; if you use the service, send the opt-out email in your first 30 days and keep identifying or valuable material out of your chats. Automated methodology assessment, opinion based on the published terms as of 2026-07-08; verify the current sources.

“Your use of the Services is at your sole risk. The site is provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Character.AI expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express, implied or statutory, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement.”Character.AI Terms of Service, Disclaimer of Warranty · character.ai/tos

What do the minors-related lawsuits and the under-18 changes mean for these terms? 2026 update

Tracked separately from the score; all items sourced and dated; allegations in complaints are unproven and settlements are not admissions of liability. The Terms set a minimum age of 13 (16 EEA/UK). On October 29, 2025 the company announced it would remove open-ended chat for under-18 users by November 25, 2025 and deploy age-assurance tools (company blog; TechCrunch; CNN). In Garcia v. Character Technologies (M.D. Fla., filed October 2024), a January 7, 2026 filing reported a settlement agreement among the plaintiff, Character Technologies, its founders, and Google, with 90 days to finalize and terms not public; related suits in New York, Colorado, and Texas were also reported settled (CNN Business, January 7, 2026). California's SB 243 companion-chatbot law took effect January 1, 2026, requiring AI disclosures, break reminders for known minors, and self-harm-protocol publication, with a private right of action. As of July 8, 2026, the published Terms text (last updated August 27, 2025) does not yet reflect the under-18 product changes. Automated assessment of public sources as of 2026-07-08; verify the current sources.

“If you are under 13 years old OR if you are under 16 years old and a citizen or resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom (UK), do not sign up for the Services – you are not authorized to use them.”Character.AI Terms of Service, Use of the Services (Your Registration Obligations) · character.ai/tos

⚖

Have an actual Character.AI dispute, or building an AI product? This is an automated assessment, not legal advice. If you have a dispute with Character.AI (an account ban, a content or Character rights question, a minor's account issue) or you are building an AI companion product and need your own terms of service, you can start a request here:

Litigation and News Tracker

Public court filings and reported developments, tracked separately from the methodology score. Allegations in a complaint are unproven unless and until a court rules, and a settlement is not an admission of liability. Automated assessment, as of July 8, 2026; verify the current sources.

Settlement reported January 2026; terms not public

Garcia v. Character Technologies and related minor-safety suits

Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc. (M.D. Fla., No. 6:24-cv-01903, filed October 2024) was the first wrongful-death suit against an AI chatbot company, brought by the mother of a 14-year-old who died by suicide; the complaint's allegations were never adjudicated on the merits. On January 7, 2026, a court filing reported that the plaintiff, Character Technologies, its co-founders, and Google reached a settlement agreement, with 90 days to finalize; four related cases in New York, Colorado, and Texas were also reported settled. Settlement terms were not public as of this assessment, and settling is not an admission of liability. Reported by CNN Business, Jan. 7, 2026; docket at CourtListener. Verify the current docket before relying on this.

Company announcement, October-November 2025

Removal of open-ended chat for under-18 users

On October 29, 2025, Character.AI announced it would remove the ability for users under 18 to engage in open-ended chat with Characters, effective no later than November 25, 2025, phased in through daily time limits, alongside age-assurance tools combining an in-house model with third-party vendors including Persona, and an under-18 experience focused on creative formats. Announced on the company blog; reported by TechCrunch and CNN, Oct. 29, 2025.

Regulation, effective January 1, 2026

California SB 243: companion-chatbot operator duties

California's SB 243 (2025-2026 session) took effect January 1, 2026 as the first U.S. state law regulating companion-chatbot operators. It requires disclosure that users are interacting with AI, break reminders at least every three hours for known minors, reasonable measures against sexually explicit content for minors, published protocols addressing suicidal-ideation and self-harm content, and creates a private right of action with damages of at least $1,000 per violation plus fees. Text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. How the statute applies to any particular operator or interaction depends on the facts.

Character.AI Terms of Service Review

✅ What Should I Do? Action Plan

👤 Everyday user

💼 Creator / commercial user

⚠ Already affected

Score Breakdown by Category

Compare With Other AI Services

🤖 AI Terms Questions?

Related Resources

⚠ Key Clauses to Watch

Perpetual, irrevocable license to everything you submit

You “own” Characters and Generated Content, minus the substance

The license survives account termination

Termination for any reason, sole discretion, no prior notice

Mandatory JAMS arbitration and class-action waiver

$100 liability cap plus a Section 1542 release

One-year deadline to bring any claim

AS IS, and the contract tells you the chats may be wrong or offensive

No refunds, and storage can be deleted without liability

🔎 Go Deeper

Fiction and worldbuilding with invented characters

Public Characters you may want back later

Chats that double as a diary

Real people as Characters

Emotional-support reliance

Minors using an adult's account

Can Character.AI use my chats commercially?

If I delete my account, is my content gone?

Can I sue Character.AI in court?

Do minors' protections appear in the Terms?

Is Character.AI safe for business use?

Analysis

Frequently Asked Questions

What Character.AI's Published Documents Say Now

Deleting Your Account Does Not Revoke the License

Terms of Service and Community Guidelines

Arbitration Opt-Out and Notice Requirements

Litigation and News Tracker

Garcia v. Character Technologies and related minor-safety suits

Removal of open-ended chat for under-18 users

California SB 243: companion-chatbot operator duties

Start with a written review

Related Resources