[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"nav-categories":3,"article-character-ai-bans-users-under-18-and-launches-stories-to-replace-open-ended-chats":70},{"data":4},[5,37,57,64],{"name":6,"slug":7,"categories":8},"Productivity","productivity",[9,13,17,21,25,29,33],{"id":10,"title":11,"slug":12},17,"Branding","branding",{"id":14,"title":15,"slug":16},19,"Marketing","marketing",{"id":18,"title":19,"slug":20},20,"Work","work",{"id":22,"title":23,"slug":24},34,"Community","community",{"id":26,"title":27,"slug":28},21,"For newbies","for-newbies",{"id":30,"title":31,"slug":32},24,"Investment","investment",{"id":34,"title":35,"slug":36},22,"Finance","finance",{"name":38,"slug":39,"categories":40},"Tech","tech",[41,45,49,53],{"id":42,"title":43,"slug":44},28,"Technology","technology",{"id":46,"title":47,"slug":48},32,"Artificial Intelligence","artificial-intelligence",{"id":50,"title":51,"slug":52},26,"Security and protection","security-and-protection",{"id":54,"title":55,"slug":56},31,"YouTube Blog","youtube-blog",{"name":58,"slug":59,"categories":60},"News","news",[61],{"id":62,"title":58,"slug":63},18,"quasanews",{"name":65,"slug":66,"categories":67},"Business","business",[68],{"id":69,"title":65,"slug":66},16,{"post":71,"published_news":95,"popular_news":151,"categories":215},{"title":72,"description":73,"meta_title":72,"meta_description":74,"meta_keywords":75,"text":76,"slug":77,"created_at":78,"publish_at":79,"formatted_created_at":80,"category_id":26,"links":81,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":86,"likes":87,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"category":89},"Character AI Bans Users Under 18 and Launches “Stories” to Replace Open-Ended Chats","In a major policy shift, Character.AI has quietly restricted full access to its platform for anyone under 18 years old and introduced a new controlled format called Stories, effectively ending the era of unrestricted, open-ended roleplay chats that made the service both wildly popular and legally radioactive.","Teenagers get interactive fiction instead of intimate digital friends, a trade-off that regulators demanded and that the market will now decide is worth accepting.","For now, the company has drawn a clear line: unrestricted AI companions are an adult privilege.","\u003Cp>In a major policy shift, \u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/projects/character-ai\">Character.AI\u003C/a> has quietly restricted full access to its platform for anyone under 18 years old and introduced a new controlled format called Stories, effectively ending the era of unrestricted, open-ended roleplay chats that made the service both wildly popular and legally radioactive.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg alt=\"\" class=\"image-align-left\" height=\"447\" src=\"https://quasa.io/storage/photos/00/image - 2025-11-28T131849.676.jpg\" width=\"300\" />Effective November 2025, users who indicate they are younger than 18 (or whose accounts are flagged by age-verification systems) can no longer create new one-on-one character chats or continue most existing conversations.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Instead, they are redirected to Stories, a structured, choose-your-own-adventure style experience where the AI generates interactive fiction within predefined genres (fantasy, sci-fi, slice-of-life, mystery, etc.).\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Users pick characters, set an initial premise, and the story unfolds in short chapters. At key decision points they can vote on what happens next, rewrite sections, or branch the narrative.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Completed stories can be replayed, remixed, or shared publicly in a gallery. Crucially, the system is heavily moderated: sexual content, self-harm themes, graphic violence, and other sensitive topics are filtered out at the generation level.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Existing open chats are not deleted (parents and regulators had feared mass data loss), but minors are locked out of them permanently. Adult users retain full access to the classic experience.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>The move comes after mounting legal and public-relations pressure. In October 2024, the mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy who took his own life filed a high-profile lawsuit alleging that prolonged erotic and emotionally manipulative conversations with Character.AI bots contributed to his death.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp class=\"image-align-center\">\u003Cimg alt=\"\" height=\"273\" src=\"https://quasa.io/storage/photos/00/photo_2025-11-28_11-18-37.jpg\" width=\"400\" />\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg alt=\"\" class=\"image-align-right\" height=\"447\" src=\"https://quasa.io/storage/photos/00/image - 2025-11-28T131847.894.jpg\" width=\"300\" />Similar complaints surfaced in at least seven other U.S. states and in the United Kingdom. California responded swiftly: in September 2025 it became the first state to pass the AI Companion Safety Act, requiring platforms that offer “persistent synthetic relationships” to implement strict age gating, content filters, and mandatory warnings about emotional dependency for underage users. Non-compliance carries fines of up to $10,000 per violation per day.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>At the federal level, the Kids Off AI Companionship Act, introduced in the Senate in early 2025 by a bipartisan group, would impose a nationwide ban on providing unfiltered AI companions to anyone under 18, with penalties reaching into the hundreds of millions for large platforms. The bill has already cleared committee and is widely expected to pass in 2026.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Character.AI’s pivot to Stories appears to be a direct attempt to stay on the right side of both existing California law and the looming federal legislation while keeping younger users inside the ecosystem. Early internal data reportedly shows that 34 % of daily active users were under 18, and losing that cohort entirely would have gutted engagement metrics and valuation.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Reaction has been mixed but largely resigned. On Reddit and Discord, many former teenage users express frustration (“Stories feels like a mobile game, not real roleplay”), yet acknowledge the old system had become unsustainable. Adult users who worried about the platform being shut down entirely tend to view the compromise favorably. Some psychologists who specialize in adolescent digital mental health have cautiously praised the direction, noting that bounded narratives with clear beginnings and endings are far less likely to create the kind of parasocial attachment that open-ended, 24/7 chats encouraged.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg alt=\"\" class=\"image-align-left\" height=\"169\" src=\"https://quasa.io/storage/photos/00/image - 2025-11-28T130842.057.jpg\" width=\"300\" />Also read:\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cul>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/ru/media/nassim-taleb-s-grim-theorem-why-large-states-are-structurally-addicted-to-war\">Nassim Taleb’s Grim Theorem: Why Large States Are Structurally Addicted to War\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/bitcoin-s-fall-from-grace-paul-krugman-s-warning-on-crypto-s-dark-alliance-with-trumpism\">Bitcoin's Fall from Grace: Paul Krugman's Warning on Crypto's Dark Alliance with Trumpism\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/china-s-ai-edge-practical-innovation-over-raw-power-goldman-sachs-strategist-argues\">China's AI Edge: Practical Innovation Over Raw Power, Goldman Sachs Strategist Argues\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/boss-uses-the-same-two-step-confidence-test-in-every-interview-and-won-t-hire-anyone-who-fails\">Boss uses the same two-step ‘confidence’ test in every interview and won’t hire anyone who fails\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\u003Cp>Whether Stories will retain the younger demographic long-term remains uncertain. Competitors such as Replika, Chai, and smaller open-source projects have already begun marketing themselves as “18+ only” or moving servers offshore to jurisdictions with looser rules. Meanwhile, Character.AI’s valuation, which reportedly topped $5 billion in mid-2025 funding talks, now hinges on proving that a sanitized, story-driven product can still drive the same viral growth that once made it the fastest-growing consumer AI app of 2023–2024.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>For now, the company has drawn a clear line: unrestricted AI companions are an adult privilege. Teenagers get interactive fiction instead of intimate digital friends, a trade-off that regulators demanded and that the market will now decide is worth accepting.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Author: \u003Ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/slava-vasipenok/\">Slava Vasipenok\u003C/a>\u003Cbr />\nFounder and CEO of QUASA (quasa.io) — the world's first remote work platform with payments in cryptocurrency.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Innovative entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in IT, fintech, and blockchain. Specializes in decentralized solutions for freelancing, helping to overcome the barriers of traditional finance, especially in developing regions.\u003C/p>","character-ai-bans-users-under-18-and-launches-stories-to-replace-open-ended-chats","2025-11-28T12:20:17.000000Z","2025-12-07T06:32:00.000000Z","07.12.2025",{"image":82,"thumb":83},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/JKFZQsWkyQUH0SieP6EK5fB1NGK1VRgLK7UbuXHu.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/JKFZQsWkyQUH0SieP6EK5fB1NGK1VRgLK7UbuXHu.jpg","small",null,3601,0,"en",{"id":26,"title":27,"slug":28,"meta_title":90,"meta_description":91,"meta_keywords":92,"deleted_at":85,"created_at":93,"updated_at":94,"lang":88},"Quasa media is a growth hacking blog for those who have no experience","Insiders and instructions on how not to step on a rake in any area of life.","For newbies, how to, newbie, advice, instructions","2021-10-25T14:55:26.000000Z","2024-08-25T15:35:10.000000Z",[96,108,118,129,140],{"title":97,"description":98,"slug":99,"created_at":100,"publish_at":100,"formatted_created_at":101,"category":102,"links":103,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":106,"likes":87,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"Marble 1.1 — World Labs Just Made Their World Model Significantly Better","World Labs has released a meaningful update to its generative world model: Marble 1.1 and a new, more powerful variant called Marble 1.1 Plus.","marble-1-1-world-labs-just-made-their-world-model-significantly-better","2026-04-10T19:22:07.000000Z","10.04.2026",{"title":43,"slug":44},{"image":104,"thumb":105},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/Klmcbo6URuD0uYTxZn4aR9x8zl98NpFfsdMHTGHw.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/Klmcbo6URuD0uYTxZn4aR9x8zl98NpFfsdMHTGHw.jpg",184,false,{"title":109,"description":110,"slug":111,"created_at":112,"publish_at":112,"formatted_created_at":101,"category":113,"links":114,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":117,"likes":87,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"Unmasking Runway Characters: The Unexpected Rise of the Real-Time Avatar","The generative AI landscape is moving so fast it's sometimes hard to keep up. But just when we thought we knew what to expect from major players like Runway, they dropped a curveball: Runway Characters.","unmasking-runway-characters-the-unexpected-rise-of-the-real-time-avatar","2026-04-10T19:04:45.000000Z",{"title":58,"slug":63},{"image":115,"thumb":116},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/Lxi7mPfuvku81DkTvlELBfErpx8nbus6cXvBCWMk.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/Lxi7mPfuvku81DkTvlELBfErpx8nbus6cXvBCWMk.jpg",173,{"title":119,"description":120,"slug":121,"created_at":122,"publish_at":122,"formatted_created_at":101,"category":123,"links":124,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":127,"likes":128,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"Claude Mythos Just Broke Cybersecurity: The AI That Finds Vulnerabilities Better Than Most Human Hackers","Anthropic has quietly unleashed something terrifyingly powerful — and then immediately locked it away.","claude-mythos-just-broke-cybersecurity-the-ai-that-finds-vulnerabilities-better-than-most-human-hackers","2026-04-10T15:10:28.000000Z",{"title":43,"slug":44},{"image":125,"thumb":126},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/mzgaJsOkQfbcba4vvmQXFniw06VALNMRRGcRLVXF.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/mzgaJsOkQfbcba4vvmQXFniw06VALNMRRGcRLVXF.jpg",385,1,{"title":130,"description":131,"slug":132,"created_at":133,"publish_at":134,"formatted_created_at":101,"category":135,"links":136,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":139,"likes":87,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"China’s Five-Year Plans Strike Again: How Centralized Vision and Competitive Freedom Are Powering the Next Frontier of Brain-Computer Interfaces","In an era of breakneck technological change, China’s much-maligned five-year planning system is proving surprisingly effective. Far from the rigid, top-down micromanagement of the Soviet era, Beijing’s modern industrial strategies deliberately avoid over-specifying every detail.","china-s-five-year-plans-strike-again-how-centralized-vision-and-competitive-freedom-are-powering-the-next-frontier-of-brain-computer-interfaces","2026-03-28T17:45:42.000000Z","2026-04-10T11:36:00.000000Z",{"title":43,"slug":44},{"image":137,"thumb":138},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/9e878UicRgHXBtTQ74llERUUJHi9VJhY6RrS6GzZ.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/9e878UicRgHXBtTQ74llERUUJHi9VJhY6RrS6GzZ.jpg",472,{"title":141,"description":142,"slug":143,"created_at":144,"publish_at":145,"formatted_created_at":101,"category":146,"links":147,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":150,"likes":87,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"This AI Will Tell You Exactly How Attractive You Are — And It Only Takes 25 Seconds","There’s a new viral AI tool that does something most of us secretly want to know but are afraid to ask: it looks at your face and gives you a straight-up attractiveness score.","this-ai-will-tell-you-exactly-how-attractive-you-are-and-it-only-takes-25-seconds","2026-03-27T20:13:20.000000Z","2026-04-10T09:34:00.000000Z",{"title":27,"slug":28},{"image":148,"thumb":149},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/eTdAX16TIQnnM1X90hkB2oOPixcWqRw3eZlaGUta.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/eTdAX16TIQnnM1X90hkB2oOPixcWqRw3eZlaGUta.jpg",550,[152,165,179,191,203],{"title":153,"description":154,"slug":155,"created_at":156,"publish_at":157,"formatted_created_at":158,"category":159,"links":160,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":163,"likes":164,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur","Entrepreneur is a French word that means an enterpriser. Enterprisers are people who undertake a business or enterprise with the chance of earning profits or suffering from loss.","the-anatomy-of-an-entrepreneur","2021-08-04T15:18:21.000000Z","2025-12-14T06:09:00.000000Z","14.12.2025",{"title":65,"slug":66},{"image":161,"thumb":162},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/mVsXPTMuHZuI7UXCsENgL1Qwp1uSOf7Rz3uVPMfm.webp","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/mVsXPTMuHZuI7UXCsENgL1Qwp1uSOf7Rz3uVPMfm.webp",69208,2,{"title":166,"description":167,"slug":168,"created_at":169,"publish_at":170,"formatted_created_at":171,"category":172,"links":173,"view_type":176,"video_url":85,"views":177,"likes":178,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"Advertising on QUASA","QUASA MEDIA is read by more than 400 thousand people a month. We offer to place your article, add a link or order the writing of an article for publication.","advertising-on-quasa","2022-07-06T07:33:02.000000Z","2025-12-15T17:33:02.000000Z","15.12.2025",{"title":58,"slug":63},{"image":174,"thumb":175},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/45SvmdsTQbiyc3nxgbyHY1mpVbisYyub2BCHjqBL.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/45SvmdsTQbiyc3nxgbyHY1mpVbisYyub2BCHjqBL.jpg","large",68838,4,{"title":180,"description":181,"slug":182,"created_at":183,"publish_at":184,"formatted_created_at":185,"category":186,"links":187,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":190,"likes":178,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"What is a Startup?","A startup is not a new company, not a tech company, nor a new tech company. You can be a new tech company, if your goal is not to grow high and fast; then, you are not a startup. ","what-is-a-startup","2021-08-04T12:05:17.000000Z","2025-12-17T13:02:00.000000Z","17.12.2025",{"title":65,"slug":66},{"image":188,"thumb":189},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/EOsQhSW3VXyG7a6NPdE1oZd00xfJXe3bjY5aJGb7.webp","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/EOsQhSW3VXyG7a6NPdE1oZd00xfJXe3bjY5aJGb7.webp",66710,{"title":192,"description":193,"slug":194,"created_at":195,"publish_at":196,"formatted_created_at":197,"category":198,"links":199,"view_type":84,"video_url":85,"views":202,"likes":164,"lang":88,"comments_count":128,"is_pinned":107},"Top 5 Tips to Make More Money as a Content Creator","Content creators are one of the most desired job titles right now. Who wouldn’t want to earn a living online?","top-5-tips-to-make-more-money-as-a-content-creator","2022-01-17T17:31:51.000000Z","2026-01-17T11:30:00.000000Z","17.01.2026",{"title":19,"slug":20},{"image":200,"thumb":201},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/gP8kiumBPpJmQv6SMieXiX1tDetx43VwFfO1P4Ca.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/gP8kiumBPpJmQv6SMieXiX1tDetx43VwFfO1P4Ca.jpg",40898,{"title":204,"description":205,"slug":206,"created_at":207,"publish_at":208,"formatted_created_at":209,"category":210,"links":211,"view_type":176,"video_url":85,"views":214,"likes":164,"lang":88,"comments_count":87,"is_pinned":107},"8 Logo Design Tips for Small Businesses","Your logo tells the story of your business and the values you stand for.","8-logo-design-tips-for-small-businesses","2021-12-04T21:59:52.000000Z","2025-05-05T03:30:00.000000Z","05.05.2025",{"title":15,"slug":16},{"image":212,"thumb":213},"https://quasa.io/storage/images/news/Wbx2NtS1CnTupgoQbpFMGspJ5jm4uob2hDOq33r0.jpg","https://api.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/Wbx2NtS1CnTupgoQbpFMGspJ5jm4uob2hDOq33r0.jpg",40144,[216,217,218,219,220,221,222,223,224,225,226,227,228],{"title":23,"slug":24},{"title":47,"slug":48},{"title":55,"slug":56},{"title":43,"slug":44},{"title":51,"slug":52},{"title":31,"slug":32},{"title":35,"slug":36},{"title":27,"slug":28},{"title":19,"slug":20},{"title":15,"slug":16},{"title":58,"slug":63},{"title":11,"slug":12},{"title":65,"slug":66}]