Character.AI files for Chapter 11, warns its chatbot platform could shut down
The service remains online while the company seeks a buyer; a shutdown is possible only if the court-supervised process fails to produce a viable bid.
A sale process with the service still running
Character.AI has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is seeking a court-supervised sale of the company. Its October 12 English announcement says the board chose that process after reviewing alternatives amid legal, regulatory and operational pressures. The chatbot platform remains online, and the company says existing subscriptions and billing are unchanged for now. The filing is a confirmed corporate event; it is not an announcement that the service has already closed or found a buyer.
What users face next
Character.AI says it hopes a viable sale proposal will let the platform continue. If no actionable bid appears, it says the service will be wound down. The company currently expects the sale process to finish by late November or early December, but that is a forecast, not a court outcome. TechCrunch reported the filing on October 13, and an English Hacker News thread linked to the company’s announcement, bringing the question of the chatbot service’s future into public discussion. Character.AI says users can still export their data or delete their accounts while the platform operates.