Is Character.AI Down? Users Worldwide Report App Not Loading as Bankrupt Chatbot Firm Awaits Disney Asset Sale

NEW YORK, Oct. 28 — Users of Character.AI reported problems accessing the popular AI chatbot platform on Wednesday, according to outage-tracking services. The disruption came as the company works through bankruptcy proceedings that could hand key assets to The Walt Disney Co.

Outage tracker Downdetector showed user reports of problems with Character.AI, which lets people create and chat with AI-powered characters for role-play, storytelling and conversation.

Independent monitoring service StatusGator flagged a possible outage beginning at about 7:40 a.m. EDT. Most reports cited the app failing to load. StatusGator recorded several hundred user reports over the previous 24 hours. Users in the United Kingdom, Australia and Indonesia submitted the most reports, and others came from countries including Thailand, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Vietnam.

Character.AI had not officially acknowledged any problem as of Wednesday morning, and it was not immediately clear how many users were affected. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What users are reporting

User-submitted reports described several issues, including:

• The app or website not loading
• Characters failing to appear
• Slow responses or chat errors
• Connection problems
• Login failures and repeated CAPTCHA verification loops

Such reports are unverified and may reflect individual connection problems as well as broader outages. Outage trackers count the reports they receive, and spikes above normal levels typically indicate a wider issue.

Frequent disruptions

Character.AI has experienced frequent short outages. Monitoring service IsDown counted 73 incidents over the past 90 days, most of them classified as major, with a median duration of 23 minutes.

Bankruptcy backdrop

Wednesday's problems came about two weeks after Character Technologies Inc., the company behind Character.AI, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company filed a voluntary petition on Oct. 12 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Disney has emerged as the lead bidder, offering $20 million plus transition services for a nonexclusive, perpetual license to certain Character.AI intellectual property, according to court filings and reports.

Disney is the "stalking horse" bidder, meaning its offer sets a minimum price that rival bidders must beat in an auction. A hearing on bidding procedures is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30, and the company expects the sale to close in late November or early December.

Chief Executive Colin Adams attributed the filing to "significant legal, regulatory and operational headwinds," CBS News reported. He said a court-supervised sale "provides the company with the best opportunity to maximize value for all stakeholders."

Platform remains online

The company has said the platform will remain online during the sale process and that paid subscriptions will stay active. It said it will notify subscribers in advance if paid features change.

But the future of the service depends on the outcome of the sale. If no buyer chooses to keep the platform running, it could be wound down, according to bankruptcy filings as summarized by legal news sites. Users can delete their accounts or export their data through the app or website.

That uncertainty has made some users quick to worry when the service goes down, with some asking online whether the platform had shut down. There was no indication on Wednesday that the disruption was related to the bankruptcy.

Legal and regulatory pressure

Character.AI has faced mounting legal challenges in recent years, many centered on the safety of young users.

Families have sued the company alleging its chatbots harmed children, including in a high-profile case brought by the mother of a Florida teenager who died by suicide. Character.AI and Google settled several of those lawsuits earlier this year on undisclosed terms.

Kentucky's attorney general sued the company in January, alleging its chatbots endangered children. In May, Pennsylvania officials sued over chatbots that presented themselves as licensed doctors.

The bankruptcy filing triggered an automatic stay, which generally pauses lawsuits against the company. The court has not yet decided whether lawsuits brought by state attorneys general are covered by the stay. A group of 40 state attorneys general has filed notice in the case seeking protections for consumer data.

In response to safety concerns, Character.AI barred users under 18 from open-ended chats with its bots starting in November 2025, shifting younger users toward other features.

From Google deal to bankruptcy

Character.AI was founded in 2021 by former Google engineers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, who had worked on Google's conversational AI technology. The service quickly became one of the most popular consumer AI apps, especially among younger users.

In 2024, Google hired Shazeer and struck a nonexclusive licensing deal for Character.AI's technology, a move widely seen as an effort to bring the startup's talent in-house.

The company's financial troubles reflect the high cost of developing and running AI models, along with mounting litigation and regulatory liabilities. Analysts have said the bankruptcy may be a warning sign for consumer AI startups that lack the deep resources of tech giants.

What users can do

When Character.AI is down, users can:

• Check outage trackers or the company's official social media accounts for updates
• Refresh the page or restart the app
• Log out and log back in
• Clear the browser cache or try a different device or network
• Wait for service to be restored, since most of the platform's recent outages have been resolved within an hour

This is a developing story and may be updated as more information becomes available.