Character.AI Is Being Sold: How to Download or Delete Your Teen's Chats

Character.AI's parent company filed for Chapter 11 on October 12, 2026, and is selling its assets in a court-supervised sale. The app still works for now. If your teen has an account, this is a good moment to decide together whether to keep a copy of their chats, delete them, or close the account.

This guide gives the official steps from Character.AI's Help Center, explains why chat data matters in a sale, and offers a calm way to bring it up with your teen. It isn't legal advice.

The short answer

• Is the app still running? Yes. Character.AI says the platform remains up and running during the sale (Character.AI).
• Can I download my teen's chats? Yes. Go to Profile → Profile Settings → Account → Manage Account & Data → Export data on the web, or Profile → settings icon → Export my data in the app.
• Can I delete the account? Yes. Use the same menu and choose Delete Account (web) or Remove Account (app). Deletion is permanent, so export first if you want a copy.
• Does deleting erase everything? Not necessarily. Character.AI's privacy policy says it may keep some information to meet legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce its agreements.

What's happening with Character.AI

• October 12, 2026: Character Technologies filed a voluntary Chapter 11 case in Delaware to sell all or substantially all of its assets. The company says that if no buyer offers to keep the service running, "the platform will be wound down" (Character.AI).
• Disney's opening bid: Disney agreed to pay $20 million for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to some Character.AI intellectual property. Other buyers can still bid (Variety).
• October 14, 2026: The court set a hearing on the sale's bidding procedures for October 30 at 10:00 a.m. ET, with objections due October 23 (court order). The company has proposed a November 20 bid deadline, a November 23 auction if rival bids arrive, and a November 24 sale hearing. Those dates aren't approved yet (AI Affairs).
• Also October 14: A bipartisan group of 40 state attorneys general filed a notice in the case asking for protections for users' data, including a chance for people to access and delete their information before any sale. They kept the option to ask for a consumer privacy ombudsman (New York Attorney General).

Why chat data matters in a sale

Chats can hold a lot of personal detail: school, friends, worries, health questions. The attorneys general's filing lists the kinds of data the company holds, including account details, chat and call content, and usage patterns (states' filing).

Character.AI's privacy policy says it may disclose information in connection with a "merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition" (Privacy Policy). In a blog post on the filing, the company said users' information "continues to be protected under our Privacy Policy" and that users can export their data or delete their account (Character.AI). What happens to chats will depend on the buyer and the court, and that isn't decided yet.

How to download your teen's Character.AI chats

These steps are from Character.AI's Help Center article on exporting data (Help Center: export data). The export covers the whole account, not one chat.

On the web:

1. Sign in to character.ai on the web.
2. Go to your Profile.
3. Click Profile Settings.
4. Go to Account, then Manage Account & Data.
5. Select Export data and follow the prompts.

In the Character.AI app:

1. Open the Character.AI app and go to your Profile.
2. Tap the settings icon.
3. Select Export my data.

The Help Center doesn't say how long an export takes or how it arrives, so check the account's email. If you can't find the option (for example, on an older app version or a restricted account), you can ask for a copy of the data through the support request form or by emailing privacy@character.ai, as the privacy policy describes.

How to delete Character.AI chats or the account

Account deletion is "permanent and cannot be reversed" (Help Center: delete account). Export first if your teen wants to keep anything.

On the web:

1. Go to your Profile.
2. Click Profile Settings.
3. Go to Account, then Manage Account & Data.
4. Select Delete Account.

In the Character.AI app:

1. Open your Profile.
2. Tap the settings icon.
3. Select Remove Account.

Removing part of a chat instead: Character.AI's "Rewind to Here" feature, on web and mobile, removes every message after a point you choose (Help Center update). Character.AI's Help Center doesn't document a one-click way to delete a single conversation.

What deleting may not cover: The privacy policy says Character.AI may keep information "as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements," and that public Characters a user created may stay up (Privacy Policy). You can also send a deletion request through the support form or privacy@character.ai.

How teen accounts work now

Since November 2025, users Character.AI identifies as under 18 can't use open-ended chat; teens were moved to guided formats like Stories (TechCrunch). Today every account goes through "age assurance." Accounts verified as under 18 get an under-18 experience in reading mode, with no chat with characters. Users who are flagged as under 18 but are older can verify with Persona, usually with a selfie and sometimes a government ID (Help Center: age assurance).

Older chats from before these changes may still be in the account, which is why export and deletion still matter. The attorneys general say the under-18 limits can be bypassed, for example by switching to voice (New York Attorney General).

How to talk to your teen about it

1. Start with the news, not a verdict. "Did you hear Character.AI is being sold? I want to figure out what to do with your account together."
2. Let them choose what to keep. Some teens have stories or characters they care about. Exporting first respects that.
3. Explain the why. A sale can move data to a new company. Deleting is about privacy, not punishment.
4. Ask what they'll use instead. Curiosity tells you more than a ban, and it keeps the conversation open.
5. Keep checking in. If something in their chats worried them, make it easy to talk about it.

Parent checklist

• Ask whether your teen has a Character.AI account (web, app or both).
• Decide together: keep a copy, delete, or both.
• Export the data first if they want to keep anything.
• Delete the account, or remove messages with Rewind to Here.
• If an option is missing, send a request through Character.AI's support form or privacy@character.ai, and keep a record of it.
• Review the privacy settings of whatever AI tool they use next.
• Put a check-in on the calendar for after the sale hearing (proposed for November 24).

What to look for next

If your teen still wants to use AI, pick a tool built for their age, with parents in the loop. Our checklist for choosing a Character AI alternative for kids walks through what to ask, and our guide to parental controls for AI apps covers the settings to look for. For background, see whether Character.AI is safe for kids and how Character.AI compares with HeyOtto.

HeyOtto is AI for kids and teens ages 8–18. Kids use Otto for questions, schoolwork, writing and coding. Learn more about safe AI for kids and teens, or Try free.