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Character.AI has not shut down. On October 12, 2026, the company announced a voluntary Chapter 11 case and a court-supervised sale. The platform is operating while that process runs, but the company also says it will wind the platform down if no acceptable bid is available. No buyer has promised to preserve every conversation, user-created character, memory, or the current chatbot behavior. If your chats matter, request an account export now and make separate copies of your most important material.
What is happening to Character.AI right now?
Character.AI is in Chapter 11 and is seeking a sale under court supervision. The company expects the sale process to finish by the end of November or early December 2026, although it has not announced a confirmed shutdown date. Its October 12 announcement says, “The Character.ai platform remains up and running, and you can continue to access all services at this time.” It also states: “If such a bid is unavailable, however, the platform will be wound down.”
That means a bankruptcy filing is not the same thing as an immediate deletion of accounts. You can currently sign in and use your conversations. It does mean that future access depends on the sale process, court decisions, funding and an eventual owner or wind-down plan. A sale can transfer software, servers, contracts and data without requiring the buyer to reproduce the same product or community.
A reported proposal is not an acquisition guarantee
Reporting has described a $20 million, non-exclusive, perpetual license to certain Character.AI intellectual property involving Disney. That proposal does not establish that Disney will acquire the app, take over the service or preserve its existing chatbot community. Until a transaction is approved and its data and service terms are made clear, treat every conversation and character as being at risk of becoming inaccessible.
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Will a buyer preserve your chats and characters?
There is no public promise that a buyer will keep every existing conversation, user-created character, greeting, memory, image, setting or interactive state. Character.AI’s current FAQ says you can delete your account or export your data, but it does not guarantee that a future owner will preserve the live chat experience. A new operator could retain the data while changing the interface, models, moderation rules, character availability or account system.
Even if a buyer keeps the database, preservation can be incomplete. A transcript may survive while the character’s underlying model, hidden instructions, safety configuration or memory system changes. A character profile may remain visible but respond differently. Shared characters could be removed for licensing, policy or technical reasons. A wind-down could make the website unavailable before you have time to retrieve anything.
What may happen in a sale or shutdown?
Scenario 1: The service continues under a buyer
A buyer could keep the app online and operate existing accounts. That is the best outcome for uninterrupted access, but it is not a promise that old data will be imported. Expect possible changes to login methods, subscriptions, privacy terms, content rules, model behavior and character search. Read notices from both companies before accepting new terms or entering payment details.
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Scenario 2: Data is retained but the product changes
The buyer might preserve downloadable records while retiring the current chat interface. In that case, you could receive an archive or limited account access without being able to continue a conversation exactly as before. Exported text is useful for reference and for rebuilding prompts elsewhere, but it is not a guaranteed migration to another chatbot.
Scenario 3: The platform is wound down
If no acceptable bid is available, Character.AI has said the platform will be wound down. A wind-down may include a deadline for exports, a read-only period or complete loss of access. The company has not published those procedures or a final date. Do not wait for a shutdown notice to begin a backup: the official export queue is measured in weeks.
Which parts of your account are most at risk?
| Data or feature | What you should assume today | Best preservation method |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation transcripts | Accessible for now, but no promise of continued access after a sale or wind-down | Request the account export and manually copy irreplaceable threads |
| User-created characters | No guarantee that profiles, greetings, definitions or visibility will survive | Save the complete character description, greeting, example messages and avatar separately |
| Memories and interactive state | Especially uncertain because they may depend on proprietary systems or account databases | Record important facts, relationship history and plot state in a local document |
| Shared or discovered characters | Could be removed or altered by a buyer’s policies or licensing decisions | Save the character’s public description and the conversations you are allowed to retain |
| Account and usage metadata | Handled under the current privacy policy, but future ownership may change processing | Use the export and exercise applicable privacy rights before any deadline |
| Subscription status | Subscriptions and billing are unchanged for now | Monitor announcements and cancel if you no longer want future charges |
How to download your Character.AI data
Character.AI’s download guide, updated October 8, 2026, gives separate paths for the website and mobile app. Start immediately: the company says exports can take 3–4 weeks to process, which is a substantial part of the expected sale timetable.
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On the Character.AI website
- Sign in to Character.AI on the web.
- Open Profile.
- Select Profile Settings.
- Open Account.
- Choose Manage Account & Data.
- Select Export Data and submit the request.
In the mobile app
- Open the app and tap Profile.
- Open Settings.
- Choose Legal & Privacy.
- Tap Export Data and submit the request.
When the export email arrives
The download link in the email is valid for 7 days. Download it promptly, verify that the archive opens and keep at least two copies: one on a computer or external drive and another in a separate, trusted location. Do not assume that requesting an export preserves access by itself; the request is not a lock on your account and does not prevent a later wind-down.
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Live use, export or manual copying: which option is safest?
| Option | Preservation completeness | Processing time | Portability | Exposure to a shutdown deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continue using the live service | Highest convenience, but no independent copy and no guarantee of future access | Immediate access while the platform remains online | Low; tied to Character.AI’s account and interface | Highest; access can end before you act |
| Request an account export | Broader account record than manual copying, subject to what Character.AI includes | 3–4 weeks, according to the October 8, 2026 guide | Medium; useful as a preservation archive, not a guaranteed chatbot migration | Medium to high because the queue may outlast the sale timetable |
| Manually copy priority material | Selective; you choose the conversations and character details that matter most | Immediate for each item | High for plain text and prompts; easy to adapt elsewhere | Lower for the copied items, provided you act now |
The practical approach is to use all three in that order of urgency: keep using the service if you wish, submit the export immediately, and manually preserve your irreplaceable work today.
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How to make a useful manual backup
Save complete conversations, not just highlights
For a story or role-play you may want the opening prompt, every important turn, character replies, plot decisions and the latest stopping point. Copy text into a local document or print to PDF where appropriate. Add the chat title, approximate date and the character’s name so you can identify it later. Screenshots can preserve appearance, but searchable text is more useful for rebuilding a conversation.
Recreate each character as a portable profile
For every character you created, save the name, short description, long definition, greeting, example dialogue, personality traits, scenario, setting, speech style, relationship facts and any out-of-character instructions. Include an avatar only if you have the rights to keep and reuse that image. A character page alone may not contain hidden state that influenced later replies, so write down important memories and continuity rules in your own words.
Protect sensitive material
Exports and copied chats may contain names, private messages, location details, health information or other personal data. Store them with device encryption or a password-protected archive, and avoid uploading them to a new service until you understand that service’s privacy policy. If other people appear in a conversation, consider whether you have permission to share it.
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Can you move Character.AI conversations to another chatbot?
You can carry the text and character instructions to another chatbot, but there is no established one-click migration that preserves Character.AI’s exact model behavior, memory implementation, moderation decisions or account state. Treat the export as a preservation copy rather than a guaranteed import package.
For a manual move, start with a clean document containing the character profile, the scenario and a short list of facts that must remain consistent. Paste a selected transcript rather than an entire archive if the new service has context limits. Tell the new chatbot which parts are background, which speaker says each line and where the story should resume. Expect to edit formatting and prompts because different systems interpret instructions differently. Keep the untouched original archive so experiments do not overwrite your only copy.
Privacy, deletion and regional data rights
Character.AI’s privacy summary, updated October 29, 2025, says it collects information supplied during account creation and data generated through interactions, including usage data and IP address. It says information is used to operate, improve and personalize services, including AI-model improvement, customer support, security and legal compliance.
Depending on your region, you may be able to request access, correction, deletion, objection, restriction or portability. Privacy questions can be sent to privacy@character.ai. These rights apply to the current service and applicable law; they do not guarantee that a future owner will keep the live chat experience or that every technical element can be exported. If you plan to delete your account, preserve the material you need first because deletion can remove your ability to retrieve it.
What happens to c.ai+ subscriptions and billing?
Character.AI says subscriptions remain active and billing is unchanged for now. The company intends to notify subscribers in advance if changes affect paid features, but it has not announced a confirmed shutdown date or a final refund policy. Check your payment provider’s subscription controls and cancel if you no longer want to be charged; do not rely on a future wind-down to stop recurring billing. Save receipts and note the renewal date so you can monitor charges during the sale process.
What to do if Character.AI announces a shutdown deadline
- Read the notice for the exact last date and whether exports, account access or downloads stop at different times.
- Download any pending export immediately and verify that the files open.
- Manually copy chats, character definitions and memories that are not present or readable in the archive.
- Cancel a subscription you no longer want, using the same store or payment method that controls renewal.
- Store two local copies and avoid sharing private conversations publicly.
- If a buyer asks you to accept new privacy or payment terms, review those terms before continuing.
What you should assume
The platform is operating during Chapter 11, but continuity is not guaranteed. A buyer may preserve some data, change the product or decline to carry over the community; if no acceptable bid is found, Character.AI says the platform will be wound down. The only dependable way to protect conversations and characters you value is to request the official export now and create your own, readable copies of the most important material.
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