Character.AI, under threat from several lawsuits over its alleged negative impact on teen mental health, is banning underage users from open-ended chats on its site. Instead, teens will be allowed to use a new “Stories” format that, unlike regular chats, offers “structured” choose-your-own-adventure-style experiences with the AI characters on its platform.

The feature is available to everyone, but Character.AI is pitching it as a way to “enhance” the experience for users under 18. In October, Character.AI announced that it would shut down chats for teens on November 25th while it develops an age assurance feature that will automatically place underage users into “more conservative” AI chats.

Character.AI is currently facing a lawsuit that accuses the AI platform of contributing to a teen

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