Character.AI Chapter 11: Chats Accessible During Sale

In its October 12, 2026 update, Character.AI said it had initiated voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings to pursue a court-supervised sale after legal, regulatory and operational pressures, and warned, “If such a bid is unavailable, however, the platform will be wound down.” The service remains online during the process. Users can access their conversations and characters and request an export of their account data while a buyer is sought.

A Tom’s Guide report identifies Disney as the initial bidder on a proposed $20 million nonexclusive, perpetual license to certain Character.AI intellectual property and places the expected end of the sale process in late November or early December 2026. That offer does not establish that Disney will operate the chatbot platform or retain its users’ conversations. Continued access depends on what happens in the sale process.

Why the service is still running

Chapter 11 gives Character.AI a court-supervised process in which to seek a sale while it continues operating. The filing did not set a shutdown date or immediately remove access to chats, characters or paid features. For users, the distinction is practical: a working account today offers a chance to retrieve information, but it does not guarantee the same service after the sale.

The board chose a sale after reviewing its options amid the pressures described in the company’s announcement. Its stated aim is an actionable proposal that supports continued operation. If no viable bid does that, a wind-down remains the stated outcome; an initial offer for selected intellectual property does not settle which outcome users will face.

What Disney’s offer would cover

Disney’s proposed transaction concerns a license to specified intellectual property, rather than a commitment to run Character.AI’s app and community. Other interested parties may submit offers during the court-supervised process. The terms of a later bid, and any sale the court approves, will determine more than the identity of the opening bidder.

That distinction matters for anyone trying to judge the fate of a chat history. A buyer could acquire rights to technology without taking responsibility for keeping the current consumer service available. There is no announced arrangement guaranteeing that a future operator would preserve existing conversations or user-created characters. For now, those items remain accessible through the operating platform, and its existing privacy and security practices remain in place.

What users can preserve before the sale

An account-data export is the available route to a personal copy while the service is running. The Character.AI export guide says processing can take three to four weeks and that the emailed download link expires seven days after it is sent. The processing period makes an early request useful for anyone who would regret losing access to a conversation.

On the website, open Profile, then Profile Settings, Account, Manage Account & Data, and Export Data. In the mobile app, open Profile, Settings, Legal & Privacy, and Export Data.
Watch the email address associated with the account for the download link. Save the file before the link expires, then open it and check whether it contains the conversations or character details you wanted to keep.
If particular exchanges, character descriptions or story details matter most, save readable copies of those items while they are still accessible. This provides a separate record if the account export is difficult to use or does not present the material as expected.

A downloaded record and a live character are different things. Keeping account data does not mean another chatbot can import a conversation or reproduce how a character responds. Users who want to preserve a story should therefore pay attention to its text and character details, as well as the account export, rather than assume that a file will recreate the interaction.

Subscriptions, deletion and the next decision

Paid subscriptions remain active, and billing is unchanged for now. A bankruptcy filing does not itself cancel a subscription, so subscribers who no longer want paid access need to make that choice separately. The company intends to notify subscribers ahead of a service change that affects paid features, but that notice would address the subscription rather than preserve a chat history.

Account deletion is also available through the app or website. Anyone who wants both a copy of their information and a deleted account should wait for the export email, download the file and inspect it before using the account deletion option. Deleting an account and cancelling a paid subscription address different concerns; neither substitutes for checking that the information worth keeping has actually been saved.

The next consequential development is a bid and court-approved sale that make clear whether the platform itself will keep operating. Court filings and company updates should show what any proposal covers as the expected sale window approaches. Until those terms are known, users can continue their conversations, with the export request available while the service remains open.