Character.ai can now tell parents which bots their kid is talking to
Chatbot service Character.AI is adding a new ‘Parental Insights’ feature, which lets teens send a weekly report of their chatbot usage to a parents’ email address. As outlined in an announcement from the company, this report includes the daily average time spent across web and mobile, the characters that a user most frequently interacted with, and how much time they spent talking to each character. It’s part of a series of updates designed to address concerns about minors spending too much time with chatbots and encountering inappropriate content during chats.
The report, which doesn’t require parents to have an account, is optional and can be set up by minor users in Character.AI’s settings. The company notes that it’s an overview of teens’ activity, not a complete log — so the contents of chatbot conversations won’t be shared. The platform bars kids under 13 years of age in most locations and under 16 in Europe.
Character.AI has been introducing new features for underage users since last year, coinciding with concerns — and even legal complaints — about its service. The platform, which is popular with teenagers, allows users to create and customize chatbots that they interact with or share publicly. But multiple lawsuits allege that these bots have offered inappropriately sexualized content or material that promoted self-harm. It also reportedly received warnings from Apple and Google (which hired Character.AI’s founders last year) about its app’s content.
The company says that its system has since been redesigned; among other changes, it moved under-18 users to a model trained to avoid “sensitive” output and added more prominent notifications reminding users that the bots weren’t real people. But with enthusiasm for AI regulation and child safety laws booming, this likely won’t be the last step the company is called to take.
Chatbot service Character.AI is adding a new ‘Parental Insights’ feature, which lets teens send a weekly report of their chatbot usage to a parents’ email address. As outlined in an announcement from the company, this report includes the daily average time spent across web and mobile, the characters that a…
Recent Posts
- The Dyson HushJet Mini Cool is the powerful personal fan you won’t want to live without this summer — and it’s surprisingly reasonably priced, too
- Gone in 60 minutes
- GroWell Cap Review: I Have Hair for the First Time in 15 Years
- The Sonos Era 100 speaker is down to its lowest price in months
- Google shuts down the AI image app Pixel Studio
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023