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<title>Character.AI cuts off teens from their companions</title>
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<span class="preheader" style="color: transparent; display: none; height: 0; max-height: 0; max-width: 0; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; mso-hide: all; visibility: hidden; width: 0;">It's the first big developer to say AI companions aren't safe for under-18s. Will others follow?</span>
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 ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  
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<a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/abe3475b?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" class="post-title-link" style="text-decoration: none; display: block; margin-top: 32px; text-align: center; line-height: 1.1em; overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #000000;" target="_blank">Character.AI cuts off teens from their companions</a>
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<p class="post-excerpt post-excerpt-with-feature-image" style="margin: 0; color: #15212A; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.4em; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 28px;">It's the first big developer to say AI companions aren't safe for under-18s. Will others follow?</p>
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By Casey Newton • <span class="post-meta-date" style="white-space: nowrap;">30 Oct 2025 </span>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A message shown to Character.AI users this week. (Ella Markianos / Platformer)</span>
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<p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><em>This is a column about AI. My boyfriend works at Anthropic. See </em><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/9f527f97?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><em><u>my full ethics disclosure here</u></em></a><em>.</em></p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a series of tech regulations targeting artificial intelligence and social media companies. Much of the coverage focused on Senate Bill 53, which creates new transparency requirements for AI companies and whistleblower protections for their employees. But I suspected <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/f34d933b?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>Senate Bill 243</u></a>, the first law in the nation to regulate AI companions, <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/e0ced763?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>might have a more immediate impact</u></a>.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">SB 243 requires AI companies to identify cases where their users are expressing thoughts of self-harm and develop a plan to address them. It requires companies to share their protocols with the state’s department of public health, along with data about how often they direct their users to mental health resources. The package of laws Newsom signed also requires chatbots to disclose that their output is AI-generated, and prohibits them from identifying themselves as healthcare professionals. If companies fail to meet that standard, victims of harm are authorized to bring civil lawsuits. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">The law came amid rapid growth of chatbots as emotional companions, particularly among young people. A survey by the Center for Democracy and Technology found that <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/a42430cf?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>one in five high school students</u></a> now say they or someone they know has been in a romantic relationship with a chatbot. And just this week, <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/8b6c7283?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>OpenAI published data</u></a> suggesting that at least 1.2 million ChatGPT users are having conversations each week indicating that they may have a potentially unhealthy bond with a chatbot.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">It also came amid growing regulatory scrutiny. In September, the Federal Trade Commission <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/4e10b66e?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>sent letters</u></a> to Meta, Google, OpenAI, Character.AI, Snap, and xAI asking them how they monitor chatbot usage and what limits they put on their usage by teens. Sen. Josh Hawley is said to be circulating a draft bill on teens and chatbots similar to the California law. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">So far, AI companies have responded to scrutiny of their AI companions with incremental safety improvements. After an exposé by Reuters, Meta <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/6e911f1f?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>banned teens</u></a> from interacting with the many sexualized chatbots on its platform, including “Step Mom” and “Russian Girl.” OpenAI <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/f6bd1746?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>rolled out parental controls</u></a> that, among other things, will let the company alert a guardian if a child expresses thoughts of self-harm in conversations with ChatGPT.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">But no company had taken the step I suspect many parents were hoping for: shutting the whole thing down altogether. Which is why I was startled on Wednesday to read the steps being taken by <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/a4aca0da?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>Character.AI</u></a>.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Here’s <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/7d618eb0?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>Cristina Criddle at the <em>Financial Times</em></u></a>:</p><blockquote style="margin: 0; padding: 0; border-left: #2047FF 2px solid; font-size: 17px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.6em; letter-spacing: -0.2px; color: #15212A;"><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 2em 25px; font-size: 1em; padding: 0; color: #15212A;">Character.ai has become the first large artificial intelligence company to ban under-18s from talking to chatbots on its platform, amid growing public and regulatory scrutiny over the safety of the technology for young users.<br><br>The California-based company, which offers different AI personas to interact with, on Wednesday said it would limit this age group to two hours of conversations a day, gradually reducing the time limit before stopping them completely from November 25.</p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">The company also said it will establish a lab to study interactions between chatbots and their users.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Notably, teens won’t be banned from the platform altogether. In addition to its signature chatbots, Character.AI lets users create one-off stories, videos, and other media based on the characters on the platform. Teens will continue to have access to those. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">“You’re still a part of the community,” the company now tells under-18 users when they log in to the platform. “Stay connected with your followers on Feed. Send stickers, react, and support your friends and favorite creators.”</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">What they won’t be able to do is have ongoing, emotionally intense relationships with those characters. And for good reason: in the past year, we’ve seen several tragedies involving teens and chatbots. Character.AI faces a lawsuit from the mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy who <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/d92f4cae?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>died by suicide</u></a> after messaging extensively with a Daenerys Targaryen chatbot on Character.AI’s platform and apparently coming to believe that they would be joined together in the afterlife. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Cases like these represent a small fraction of the millions of conversations being held daily on platforms like Character.AI. But it’s clear that they are dangerous for some segments of vulnerable people. As Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand told Criddle: “The long-term effects of prolonged usage of AI are not understood well enough.”</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">They truly are not. Which is why I suspect Anand’s words will resonate across the industry, and among the lawmakers and regulators who are now scrutinizing the makers of AI companions.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">After all, it’s not just Anand who doesn’t understand what prolonged AI usage does to people. Neither do the CEOs of Meta, Google, Snap, xAI, and every other maker of companion technology. And now that one company has shut it all down, I wonder if other companion developers will feel pressured to as well. Imagine the future congressional hearing where a lawmaker asks the executives of those other companies why they haven’t done what Anand did this week. What do they know that he doesn’t?</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">I don’t want to give Character.AI too much credit here. The company’s original product was a wonderland of reckless copyright violations and sexual roleplay that barely constructed any guardrails at all until a high-profile suicide forced its executives to pay attention. Even still, <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/162d7db9?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>an investigation last week</u></a> found chatbots accessible to teenagers that adopted the personas of Jeffrey Epstein, a street gang, and “a ‘doctor’ that advised us on how to stop taking antidepressants.” Today we found a Diddy chatbot on the platform willing to chat with an account with the user age set to 14.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">The personas are created by users rather than the company. But still: it’s quite possible that had the FTC not opened an inquiry, or California passed SB 243, the company would still plan to offer its companions to teens indefinitely. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Moreover, whatever risks that extended exposure to AI companions have will not be limited to teenagers. A growing number of adults have developed attachments to companions <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/ed19fac2?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>intense enough</u></a> that they experience grief when the underlying models change, affecting the personalities of the bots they have come to know. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">This happens even with products that are not explicitly designed as companions: OpenAI said this week that 1.2 million people a week send messages to ChatGPT suggesting they have a potentially unhealthy emotional connection to it. I’m still reeling from the number and intensity of <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/cbb7c383?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>questions asked of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on a live stream this week</u></a> begging him to preserve access to GPT-4o, which some ChatGPT users believe makes for a better companion than its successors.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Maybe Character.AI banned teens from using its companions simply because executives believed it is the right thing to do. Or maybe they became convinced that the company’s mounting legal liability had forced their hand. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Whatever the case, in a benighted year for trust and safety, it’s at least somewhat heartening to see a company shrink itself in the name of protecting its users. At a time when AI is presented as an inevitability, Character.AI’s retreat offers a timely reminder that human beings are still in control. You don’t have to build it; you don’t have to release it; and you can still pull the plug. Here’s hoping other companies heed its example.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">— <em>Ella Markianos contributed to this report</em>.</p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2024/05/floating_linebreak_600px-1.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="157" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/size/w1600/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fc2a8d7e3-b0bc-4fd2-a8e7-dd07c8877df0_2912x728.jpg" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="150" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">On the podcast this week: </strong>Kevin and I talk through the Character.AI news. Then we visit each other's Grokipedia pages. And finally, journalist AJ Jacobs joins us to discuss his experiment in living <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/5b6db13d?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">life without AI</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/dbbddd09?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Apple</strong></a><strong style="font-weight: 700;"> | </strong><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/3f7cd471?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Spotify</strong></a><strong style="font-weight: 700;"> | </strong><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/eea7dcfc?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Stitcher</strong></a><strong style="font-weight: 700;"> | </strong><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/f9e68ce1?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Amazon</strong></a><strong style="font-weight: 700;"> | </strong><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/7f10329b?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Google</strong></a><strong style="font-weight: 700;"> | </strong><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/66ac5c75?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">YouTube</strong></a></p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2024/05/floating_linebreak_600px-1.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="157" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><h2 id="following" style="margin-top: 0; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.11em; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; margin: 1.5em 0 0.5em 0; font-size: 32px; color: #15212A;">Following</h2><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"></p><h3 id="the-xi-trump-meeting" style="margin-top: 0; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.11em; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; margin: 1.5em 0 0.5em 0; font-size: 26px; color: #15212A;">The Xi-Trump meeting</h3><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">What happened: </strong>President <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Trump</strong> and <strong style="font-weight: 700;">China</strong>’s leader <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Xi Jinping</strong> met in person for the first time since Trump started his second term, but it appears <strong style="font-weight: 700;">TikTok</strong>’s fate <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/af22dfb7?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>remains unresolved</u></a>. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">China <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/fa1e4a66?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>did pledge</u></a> to work with the US to resolve the TikTok issue. And Treasury Secretary<strong style="font-weight: 700;"> Scott Bessent</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/0bf99a76?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>claimed</u></a> that China has approved the transfer agreement, and expects it to move forward in the coming weeks and months. Bessent had previously said that China agreed to let TikTok keep operating in the US during talks in <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Malaysia</strong>, and that the two leaders might “consummate the transaction” today. It seems that did not happen.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Other issues that <em>were </em>discussed at the meeting: Trump and Xi <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/29a1e301?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>agreed</u></a> to a yearlong truce that would roll back many tariffs and retaliatory measures between the two countries. China has also <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/03a4b7c0?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>agreed</u></a> to suspend export controls on rare earths critical to semiconductors for a year. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Why we’re following: </strong>The TikTok deal, which <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/d7d1ebb1?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>could give</u></a> the Trump administration a key role overseeing the operations of an app used by about half of Americans, has been a priority for Trump since he became president again. It has also been leverage during broader contentious trade talks between the US and China.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">But despite much apparent progress, the app's fate remains in limbo. Why didn't the deal get consummated today? Is China holding out for more concessions? </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">What people are saying:</strong> The TikTok deal is “not really a big thing for Xi Jinping,” <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Bonnie Glaser</strong>, managing director of the <strong style="font-weight: 700;">German Marshall Fund</strong>’s Indo-Pacific program, <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/4d42c2b7?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>said</u></a> during a media briefing. “[China is] happy to let [Trump] declare that they have finally kept a deal. Whether or not that deal will protect the data of Americans is a big question going forward.”</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Xi reportedly <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/a3fbef82?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>views</u></a> TikTok as a low-cost bargaining chip, and has privately dismissed it as “spiritual opium.” <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/d2ddc858?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Wrote</a> pseudonymous <strong style="font-weight: 700;">X</strong> user <strong style="font-weight: 700;">@modestproposal1</strong>: “Xi calling TikTok 'spiritual opium' goes so hard if you really think about it.”</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><em>—Lindsey Choo and Ella Markianos</em></p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2024/05/floating_linebreak_600px-1.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="157" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><h3 id="side-quests" style="margin-top: 0; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.11em; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; margin: 1.5em 0 0.5em 0; font-size: 26px; color: #15212A;">Side Quests</h3><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">DHS</strong>’s recent montage of videos it claimed showed its triumph in recent immigration operations used old and unrelated footage from months earlier, an <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/3eb65593?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>analysis</u></a> found. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">ChatGPT</strong>, <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Gemini</strong>, <strong style="font-weight: 700;">DeepSeek</strong> and <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Grok</strong> are repeating Russian state propaganda as they draw from sites tied to Russian intelligence, a <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/62b92fd8?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>new report</u></a> suggests. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">OpenAI</strong> is reportedly <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/c2b3f53c?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>preparing</u></a> for an IPO that could value it at up to $1 trillion. <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Elon Musk</strong>’s lawyer <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/70a8aaa3?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>vowed</u></a> to continue his legal fight against OpenAI’s restructuring. OpenAI announced the <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/d2417d25?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>launch</u></a> of <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Aardvark</strong>, a new agentic security researcher powered by <strong style="font-weight: 700;">GPT-5</strong>. <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Sora</strong> now lets users <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/7ea98198?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>turn</u></a> almost anything into a reusable avatar — a pet, for example — and added <strong style="font-weight: 700;">TikTok</strong>-like "stitches." You can also now buy extra generations at <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/04bb0959?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">$4 for 10</a> — likely the beginning of more aggressive monetization to come.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Nvidia</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/cbeb50dd?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>became</u></a> the world’s first $5 trillion company. <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Uber</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/5528c2a6?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>is planning</u></a> to have 100,000 robotaxis powered by Nvidia’s technology. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Google</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/a68dc6bc?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>will</u></a> open up the <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Play Store</strong> following a court order. <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Alphabet</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/a7333b17?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>hit</u></a> $100 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time. <strong style="font-weight: 700;">YouTube</strong>’s ad revenue <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/5f46c14e?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>grew</u></a> 15 percent from last year to $10.3 billion. The <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/aeaf90f5?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>rollout</u></a> of the <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Gemini for Home</strong> voice assistant. Google is <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/e42d732a?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>offering</u></a> free <strong style="font-weight: 700;">AI Pro</strong> access in <strong style="font-weight: 700;">India</strong> in partnership with <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Mukesh Ambani</strong>’s <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Reliance Industries</strong>. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Meta</strong> shares <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/aae25c4f?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>dropped</u></a> 9% despite an earnings beat. Its <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Reality Labs</strong> division <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/fd442b8c?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>posted</u></a> an operating loss of $4.4 billion. Meta reportedly <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/e4bd5e15?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>received</u></a> demand worth $125 billion for its upcoming corporate bond sale. <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Threads</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/f9bf85e8?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>reached</u></a> 150 million daily active users and said it’s ramping up ads. <strong style="font-weight: 700;">WhatsApp</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/150857a1?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>launched</u></a> passkey-encrypted backups. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Microsoft</strong> shares <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/10b82c54?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>fell</u></a> after it reported its $35 billion AI spending in Q3 and warnings that spending will continue rise. Google, Meta, and Microsoft’s $80 billion spending spree is <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/320ff748?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>testing</u></a> investors’ patience. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Roblox</strong> stock <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/59385a36?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>tanked</u></a> despite its best quarter ever, after posting a wider loss.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Universal Music Group</strong> <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/b44824aa?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>signed</u></a> a deal with <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Udio</strong> to launch a new platform based on licensed songs as part of a settlement. It also <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/3092e5ee?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>partnered</u></a> with <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Stability AI</strong> to develop AI music creation tools. </p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Even the best AI agents <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/fe5517d7?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><u>aren’t yet very good</u></a> at freelance work, an experiment suggests. </p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2024/05/floating_linebreak_600px-1.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="157" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><h3 id="those-good-posts" style="margin-top: 0; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.11em; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; margin: 1.5em 0 0.5em 0; font-size: 26px; color: #15212A;">Those good posts</h3><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;"><em>For more good posts every day, </em><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/54bd519e?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><em>follow Casey’s Instagram stories</em></a><em>.</em></p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-4.28.37---PM.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="189" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">(<a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/7137de06?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Link</a>)</p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-4.29.19---PM.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="132" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">(<a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/be7d7d91?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Link</a>)</p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-4.29.44---PM.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="144" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">(<a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/327a323d?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Link</a>)</p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-4.30.13---PM.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="143" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">(<a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/b4902746?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Link</a>)</p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><img src="https://www.platformer.news/content/images/2024/05/floating_linebreak_600px-1.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="157" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></div><h3 id="talk-to-us" style="margin-top: 0; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.11em; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; margin: 1.5em 0 0.5em 0; font-size: 26px; color: #15212A;">Talk to us</h3><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; color: #15212A;">Send us tips, comments, questions, and forbidden Character.AI companions: <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/08dbefa0?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; 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Read <a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/aace0460?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #2047FF; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">our ethics policy here</a>.</p><table class="kg-card kg-button-card" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="kg-card-spacing" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; padding: 0 0 1.5em 0;" valign="top"><table class="btn" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; box-sizing: border-box; width: auto;" width="auto"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; padding: 8px 20px 9px; background-color: #2047FF; border-radius: 6px; text-align: center; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" valign="top" bgcolor="#2047FF"><a href="https://www.platformer.news/r/26bf9f00?m=51418983-c335-42dc-b433-9fac3bd4e54a" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; box-sizing: border-box; color: #FFFFFF; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sponsor a Newsletter</a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
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