Character.AI age verification: how it works and why it's asking

Why Character.AI is asking for your age

As of October 31, 2026, Character.AI's terms of service (last updated August 27, 2025) say users under 13, or under 16 and a citizen or resident of the European Economic Area or the UK, may not sign up or use its services. Its Safety Center page says sign-up collects an email address and birthday. A separate help page says it asks for age because users must meet a minimum age to interact with characters, and that collecting it supports its compliance with the law.

On October 29, 2025, Character.AI announced new age assurance to match users with the right experience for their age. It said it had built an in-house age assurance model and would combine it with third-party tools, including Persona. The post cited recent news reports and questions from regulators about teens and AI chat, and said regulators' feedback was one input. It does not name a specific law.

In a September 3, 2026 post, Character.AI described its age assurance as one of the most important systems it operates and said it is working to improve accuracy so that adults are disrupted less.

How the age check works

Character.AI's What is Age Assurance page says all users must complete an age assurance check. Users who are 18 or older keep full chat access, and users under 18 go to the under-18 experience, which has a reading mode and no chat with characters. The page says Persona handles all age assurance attempts and that Character.AI does not directly handle or store submitted documents.

Its Age Assurance FAQ describes up to three steps. Users the automatic estimate flags as 18 or older are cleared without further steps. Its troubleshooting page says Age Assurance is rolling out gradually, so not all users see it at the same time.

• Automatic estimate: Character.AI says it checks signals such as login information, activity on the platform and signals from third parties, and that the user does not have to do anything.
• Selfie: Character.AI says a selfie is requested if you are flagged as under 18 and want to show you are 18 or older. It says Persona, a third-party verification company, handles the verification, and the FAQ describes the selfie step as taking seconds.
• Government ID: if Persona is not sure after the selfie, an ID is the final step. The FAQ says some users must show a government-issued ID after the face scan and that verification cannot finish without a valid one. The troubleshooting page lists a driver's license, Certificate of Citizenship, Consular ID, identification card, passport, passport card, Permanent Residence Card and Immigration Visa, and says the ID must be a physical document, not a digital or electronic copy. Character.AI's data page says most users only complete a selfie, and that an ID is requested only if Persona cannot confirm age from the selfie.

Starting or finishing verification

Character.AI's help center says age assurance is introduced step by step, so the pop-up may not show for everyone right away, and that most users are prompted to verify at login. If the prompt does not appear, it names an outdated app or a previously dismissed prompt as likely causes, and says to update the app if the option is missing. You can start it yourself on the mobile app or the web under Settings, then Advanced, then Verify Age; on mobile, it says to update and restart the app first. The pop-up help page was last updated June 29, 2026.

To finish on a different device, the troubleshooting page says to stay logged in to Character.AI and use the QR code shown during the process.

• Character.AI says there is no alternative to a selfie or government ID when you are prompted for one.
• Its FAQ says paying for Character.AI+ does not skip the check, and an age linked to a Google account does not replace it.
• For the selfie, it says filters, makeup effects and drawn-on features can cause a rejection, and recommends front lighting, eye level, only you in the frame, and no mask or sunglasses.
• For an ID photo, it recommends no glare, a solid background, and the ID straight and fully in the frame.
• Character.AI's What is Age Assurance page says completing age assurance does not automatically grant 18+ access; the outcome depends on the age information provided.

If you think the result is wrong

Character.AI's FAQ says users flagged as under 18 by mistake should go to Settings to verify, starting with a selfie. If you have verified but are in the wrong experience, it says to submit a ticket through its support site so your age bracket can be reviewed or the process restarted. If you can no longer attempt verification, the troubleshooting page also points to a support ticket.

For users who have turned 18, the FAQ says they can move to the 18+ experience, and may be asked for a selfie if the system is not sure. Character.AI's What is Age Assurance page says that users verified as under 18 who later turn 18 should contact support to reset their verification attempts and verify again. The help pages we reviewed do not give a response time for tickets, how many attempts are allowed, or how long an ID review takes.

What happens to your selfie and ID

Character.AI's page on data during age assurance says Character.AI does not collect or store the personal data submitted during age verification, and that Persona handles the submissions. It says any biometric data or ID submitted is automatically and permanently deleted within 7 days, that no deletion request is needed, and that Character.AI does not have access to the submissions. Its Age Assurance FAQ says verification does not involve Character.AI seeing your photo ID, that Persona uses the information to verify age, to detect fraud and for quality assurance, and that for material changes to how data is collected or accessed, Character.AI would tell users and get their consent first.

Character.AI's October 12, 2026 post about its Chapter 11 case says information remains protected under its Privacy Policy and that its privacy and security practices are unchanged. It does not mention age assurance data specifically. Our guide to whether Character.AI is shutting down covers what the case means for user data.

What changes for users under 18

Character.AI's FAQ says users flagged as under 18 can use the under-18 experience or verify. Its What is Reading Mode page says reading mode is the experience for users verified as under 18: they can browse characters and view content, but chat features are not available.

The Reading Mode page says under-18 users keep all past chats, saved and viewable; the ability to create characters, scenes and videos; Imagine Chat and AvatarFX; and feed activity such as stickers, reactions and supporting creators. In a September 3, 2026 post, Character.AI said open-ended chat with characters for users under 18 was removed last year.

• October 29, 2025: Character.AI announced it would end open-ended chat for users under 18 by November 25, 2025, with a two-hour daily limit in the meantime.
• November 21, 2025: it said the U.S. teen limit was down to one hour a day, and that age assurance was rolling out in the U.S. with a global rollout planned.
• November 24, 2025: the date Character.AI said it would begin removing open-ended chat for U.S. users under 18, in two stages, with other markets to follow.
• The November 21 post said Character.AI was building non-chat experiences for under-18 users around features such as the Feed, Imagine, Avatar FX and Streams.
• Parental Insights: Character.AI's page says a linked parent can see a teen's daily average time, the characters the teen interacted with most, time per character, whether the teen has a c.ai+ subscription and a weekly report. The page does not say parents can see messages.

The laws and government actions behind age checks

These rules and actions bear on how chatbot companies handle age:

• California SB 1119 (Adam's Law), Chapter 190, Statutes of 2026: signed by the Governor on September 10, 2026, after passing the Senate 39-0 and the Assembly 69-4. From January 1, 2027, operators of companion chatbots must either determine each user's age, using age signals under the Digital Age Assurance Act or, if that fails, the age determination under Health and Safety Code section 27001, or apply the child protections to all users. From July 1, 2027, operators must also set defaults that only a parent can change, including one continuous session capped at one hour and two hours of daily chatting, run a documented crisis protocol, and publish a child safety policy.
• California SB 243, Chapter 677, Statutes of 2025: signed October 13, 2025 and in effect since January 1, 2026. It requires companion chatbot operators to give a clear notice that the chatbot is not human when a reasonable person could think it is, to maintain and publish a suicide and self-harm prevention protocol, and to tell users that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors. For users the operator knows are minors, it also requires an AI disclosure, a break reminder by default at least every three hours, and reasonable measures against sexually explicit material. SB 1119 deletes those known-minor duties on January 1, 2027, but not the suitability disclosure. Injured users may sue.
• New York's AI companion law, General Business Law Article 47 (Part U of S 3008-C, Chapter 58, Laws of 2025): signed May 9, 2025 and in effect since November 5, 2025. Section 1702 requires operators to give a clear notice at the start of an interaction, not needed more than once a day, and at least every three hours during continuing interactions, that the user is not communicating with a human. Section 1701 requires a protocol for detecting and responding to expressions of suicidal ideation or self-harm. The attorney general enforces the law, with civil penalties of up to $15,000 per day. The law has no age-check requirement.
• The FTC announced orders on September 11, 2025 to seven companies, including Character Technologies, asking among other things how they limit use by minors and enforce age restrictions. It is a study under Section 6(b), not an enforcement case.
• On October 14, 2026, New York's attorney general announced that a coalition of 40 attorneys general had filed a notice in Character.AI's bankruptcy case asking that any sale include effective age verification that goes beyond self-disclosure. The filing alleges Character.AI was widely used by minors without adequate age verification from 2022 through 2025, and that its open-ended chat restriction applies only to users it accurately identifies as minors and can be circumvented. These are the states' allegations and requests, not court findings.

We are not saying Character.AI is covered by, or out of compliance with, any of these laws. It may have practices it has not published, and whether a law applies to it is a legal question this guide does not decide.

Character.AI's bankruptcy and sale

On October 12, 2026, Character.AI said it had started a voluntary Chapter 11 process to pursue a court-supervised sale. It said the platform remains available, that it will be shut down if no viable bid emerges, and that it expects the sale to be complete by the end of November or early December 2026.

The post does not mention any change to age assurance or under-18 policies, and Character.AI's blog showed no later posts as of October 31, 2026. Our guide to whether Character.AI is shutting down tracks the case, its dates and what attorneys general have asked of any buyer. This guide will be updated if the age checks change.