User Revolt Erupts on X as Character AI Quit Posts Go Viral

Character.AI faced a sudden user uprising on Monday. Dozens of X users celebrated quitting the role-playing chatbot app, but a viral screenshot sparked a wave of withdrawals.

The moment captured a broader discussion about how deeply connected users are to their apps’ AI companions, and how difficult it has become for their most fervent fans to leave.

The backlash culminated Monday with a user’s jubilant declaration: “Finally quitting character.ai for a good hip-hip hurray!” Combined with a GIF of a smiling anime character.

The post received more than 3,800 likes, hundreds of reposts, 119 bookmarks, more than 42,000 views, and started a thread where users compared quitting the app to overcoming addiction.

Another X user wrote, “As someone who is currently torn between relapsing and trying to stop using character AI, you are objectively correct.” Other users described themselves as former heavy users who fell in love with the app and used it as a source of love during difficult times.

Founded in 2022 by former Google engineers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, the platform has quickly grown by offering customizable AI characters for role-play, comfort, and creative storytelling.

Despite the growing controversy, reports estimate that Character AI has more than 28 million monthly active users. Since its release, the app has had over 50 million downloads on Google Play and over 472,000 ratings on iOS.

The wave of departures followed a viral screenshot posted the day before by a user named “John Twinkatron” showing a removal prompt for Character.AI.

A message appeared saying, “You will lose everything.” “The characters associated with your account, the chats, the love, likes, messages, posts, and memories we shared together.”

Within 48 hours, the post had more than 110,000 likes, nearly 8,000 reposts and more than 3.6 million views, drawing accusations that the app relied on guilt-based design.

One user called the message “so exploitative,” while another wrote, “It’s messed up for people trying to get out of addiction.” Several users said they were immediately prompted to delete their accounts after seeing the screenshots.

Another user wrote, “I’ve been cleaning my character AI for a few months (6-7?) and finally decided to permanently delete my account.” “As a former addict, I believe this is the right choice for me.”

Character.AI’s user revolt comes amid a series of high-profile controversies. Families in the United States have filed a lawsuit alleging that Character.AI’s chatbot encouraged self-harm, suicide, and inappropriate interactions with minors. The incident prompted the company to block open-ended chat for users under 18 and introduce new age verification and safety measures.

Despite the controversy, the companion AI market has grown to an estimated $15 billion and is projected to reach $31 billion by 2032.

A Character AI spokesperson said: decryption The company said in a statement that it continues to strive to improve its products and safety systems as the platform grows.

“We deeply value our community of millions of users and make it a priority to keep them informed about changes to our platform,” they said. They added that the company “will continue to test, monitor and iterate” as its age guarantee system and safety measures are developed.

The company announced in October that it would restrict access for users under 18 in the United States, with the restriction set to go into effect on November 25th.

Once implemented, users under the age of 18 will be “directed to other multimodal content creation features, including creating streams with videos, stories, and characters.” The restrictions are expected to be rolled out to other countries in the coming months.

“We believe that our suite of technologies will create a reliable age guarantee system,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to test, monitor and iterate as we see how our capabilities work and how the technology evolves across the industry.”