What the official update says
On October 12, 2026, Character Technologies (Character.AI) filed a voluntary Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (case 26-11603) to sell all or substantially all of its assets. The company says the platform keeps operating during the sale. If no buyer provides for continuing the platform, it will be wound down.
The company expects the sale process to finish in late November or early December 2026. That is a process estimate, not a promised last day. Read Character.AI’s official update for the company’s terms and any later changes.
Characters to chat with
Han JisuYour fiancée just became your boss, six weeks before the wedding.Chat →
Sa YeonwooA reaper sent for your soul who chose to protect you instead.Chat →
RienAntiques appraiser by day, information broker by night.Chat →
JulianYou complained about the noise; the pianist upstairs offered lessons.Chat →
AldermereA forest keeper who fell from the sky holding a leaf with your name.Chat →
SeoyunThe internet-café manager who teases you and saves you dinner.Chat →
EunseoPolished consultant by day, arcade fighting-game champ by night.Chat →
Silver Storm DragonA half-dragon bodyguard holding back a storm to keep you safe.Chat →Does the Disney deal save Character.AI?
Not by itself. Disney Worldwide Services agreed to be the stalking-horse bidder: $20 million for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to certain Character.AI intellectual property and certain claims, plus transition services using former Character.AI employees it hired. A license to some technology is not a purchase of the app, and the announcement does not say Disney will run Character.AI for users.
Other bidders can still make higher or better offers under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. A declaration filed by the company’s investment banker (Docket No. 17) says an earlier sale effort approached about 28 potential buyers and produced one proposal that was not actionable. It also gives the Disney agreement an outside closing date of December 17, 2026.
Key dates in the case
| Date | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 12, 2026 | Voluntary Chapter 11 filing; platform keeps running. | Character.AI blog and Business Wire release |
| Oct 15, 2026 | Notice of the Chapter 11 case filed. | Court notice on the Stretto case site |
| Nov 19, 2026 | Remote meeting of creditors, 1:00 p.m. ET. This is a legal step for creditors, not a user deadline. | Court notice |
| Late Nov to early Dec 2026 | Expected completion of the sale process. | Character.AI blog |
| Dec 17, 2026 | Outside closing date for the Disney agreement. | Docket No. 17 declaration |
Checked October 27, 2026. Court schedules can move; follow the company’s next dated update.
Read the announcement in three parts
| The announcement says | What that means for you | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| A court-supervised sale is under way. | Keep access to your account while preparing your own copies. | That a buyer has been secured. |
| The process is expected to reach a milestone in late November or early December. | Watch for a new dated announcement. | A confirmed last day to use the chat. |
| A wind-down is possible if the service does not continue. | Request your data rather than relying on an assumed outcome. | That every account or conversation has already been deleted. |
What you can do now
- Request your data while you have access. Follow our official-path export guide. Keep a note of the date you submitted the request.
- Preserve your own creative context now. Save character notes, relationship details and an outline of the current story separately.
- Keep the account accessible. Check the email address you use and avoid deleting an account before you have secured the data you need.
- Evaluate another service with a small scene. You can test a new experience without assuming your full archive will transfer.
How to read new claims
When you see a closure claim, look for a dated primary announcement and the exact event it describes. A proposed asset sale, a court milestone and the day a service stops accepting chats are different events.
For a social post that names a specific day, follow its source. If the source only estimates the end of a legal process, the post has not established a final service deadline. Likewise, the availability of an alternative app does not prove anything about Character.AI’s future.
Keep the story, even if the platform changes
A chat archive preserves messages; a story brief preserves the context you want to continue writing. Keep both when possible. Characters you created can be moved with our character migration tool, which converts them in your browser and imports only what you confirm.
Once your notes are saved, you can try a small scene elsewhere. The link below opens another experience; it does not import your Character.AI archive.
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