Character.AI is bringing its AI companions into group conversations. Its new Character Group Chat feature lets people invite friends, AI characters, or both into the same chat, opening up a shared space for discussion, collaboration, and role-playing.
One chat can include people and AI characters
Users can create a group with only AI characters or combine AI companions with human participants. Character.AI presents the feature as a way to connect with friends, exchange ideas, and work together in real time, with AI characters joining the conversation.
The format can also change the way people use the platform’s customizable companions. Instead of chatting with one character at a time, participants can bring several into a shared discussion and see how the conversation unfolds among them.
From imagined debates to shared activities
Character.AI points to imaginative combinations as one possible use. A group might bring together Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla, and Stephen Hawking, or put the mythological figures Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon in the same chat.
There are more everyday possibilities, too. Friends could start a conversation around travel, gaming, a book club, or role-playing, then invite an AI companion to help guide or add to the discussion.
These examples suggest that the feature is designed for more than asking an AI a question and receiving an answer. The AI companion becomes part of a social setting, where people can use it to support a topic or add another voice to a group exchange.
Subscribers get first access
Character Group Chat is initially limited to c.ai+ subscribers. Character.AI says it is opening the feature to this group first so it can gather feedback and make improvements before making it available to the general public.
The c.ai+ plan costs $9.99 per month. It includes skipping waiting rooms, faster message generation, and access to an exclusive community channel for feedback and support, among other benefits.
At launch, group chats are available through the Character.AI mobile app on iOS and Android. The company says web access will come later, but the source does not give a date for that expansion or the broader public release.
A growing field for AI companions
Character.AI is not the only company bringing chatbots into group conversations. Snapchat’s My AI can be added to group chats with the command @myai. Meta has also introduced AI-powered bots across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram’s DMs, including bots based on celebrities.
Those competing features give users other ways to bring AI into conversations they already have. Character.AI’s approach centers on its own customizable characters and starts with access for paying subscribers, while the company gathers feedback on how the group experience works.
The company’s mobile app initially topped half a million installs in its first six days and is said to be catching up with ChatGPT in the U.S. Data.ai estimates the app has close to 30 mill ion monthly active users globally and around 7 million in the U.S. It also estimates $1.3 million in lifetime gross in-app purchase revenue, though that figure does not capture c.ai+ subscriptions sold on the web.
For Character.AI, group chat extends the role of AI companions from individual exchanges to shared activities with friends. The feature’s early availability gives subscribers a chance to try that setup, while feedback may shape how it develops before a wider rollout.