Character.ai Files for Bankruptcy

mschuster91 | 10 hours ago

And so, it begins. The first domino has fallen.

I'm gonna go, grab some popcorn and cry a few tears... tears of joy.

Krasnol | 10 hours ago

I don't know if there is something to be joyful about.

AI won't go away, it will just end up being a monopoly.

FromTheFirstIn | 10 hours ago

A monopoly on not making money

Krasnol | 6 hours ago

The military doesn't make any money too. It has still a thriving private sector around it and basically runs on taxpayer money.

ActionHank | 9 hours ago

I don't think I know of anyone who denies the value of AI. I think 95% of the people who use it know that it is a tool and are angry / dismayed / confused about companies that are parading it around like a drop in replacement for anything.

Photoshop is a tool, vs code is a tool, git is a tool, excel is a tool. No one expected these to autonomously generate money.

People will be happy that the 5% who are delusional are going to be forced to reckon with the lies they've told themselves.

As an aside, I believe there will be a huge surge in crypto hype again once these sorts of get rich quick with AI schemes dry up.

mschuster91 | 8 hours ago

Crypto always has been backed by the natural demand of drug consumers, drug dealers and drug sellers. Now with marijuana being somewhat legalized in more and more parts of the world and everyone being able to see that the war on cocaine is all but lost... I think the demand for crypto will not recover any more.

ActionHank | 7 hours ago

It's also an incredibly convenient way to move a huge amount of wealth around without the tax man taking a look.

dumberquestions | 9 hours ago

I had a conversation with someone some time in 2024 about Character Ai, wondering how something so obviously exploitative could exist, one data point to consider.

LanceJones | 7 hours ago

Fallen? The founders and about 30 researchers took a $2.7 billion exit from Google in 2024.

0gs | 10 hours ago

calling this a domino is pretty funny. "the first tiddlywink has spontaneously disintegrated"

lelanthran | 10 hours ago

It only takes a pebble to start a landslide.

Most pebbles don't start landslides, but almost all landslides started with a pebble.

Remember that almost all the "value" in AI companies right now is based on perception, not reported profits.

m4rtink | 10 hours ago

So Character.ai is Jay Cooke & Company ? ;-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873

0gs | 9 hours ago

wow tontines are fascinating! fwiw, i just meant that c.ai was a domino before it got hollowed out by an acquipoach

mingus88 | 8 hours ago

Pets.com became the emblem of the dot com bubble. Obviously there was a fortune to be made in online retail but they didn’t have it

Will c.ai be the pets.com of this bubble?

freecodeio | 8 hours ago

I mean a famous AI company filing for bankrupcy might get some investors to hold their breath, given how also OpenAI and Anthropic aren't profitable.

writtenone | 8 hours ago

archived, no trackers: https://nonograph.com/characterai-files-for-bankruptcy-10-13...

ChrisArchitect | 8 hours ago

[dupe] Earlier on source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50068036

tomhow | 5 hours ago

Comments moved thither. Thanks!