Character AI Unveils Generative AI Group Chat

Generative AI chatbot startup Character AI has introduced a new group chat feature enabling multiple AI personas and humans to converse simultaneously. The feature is rolling out over the next few days to paid subscribers of Character.AI’s c.ai+ premium subscription.

Generating Collaborating

Character Group Chat represents a major expansion of Character AI’s conversational generative AI hub of chatbots mimicking real and fictional personalities. The LLM-fueled personalities offer both specific services and general conversation but has been only accessible one at a time until now.

The Character Group Chat feature opens up the chance to include any mix of users’ customized AI characters as well as friends for collaborative real-time discussions. This provides new opportunities for entertainment, education, and socializing via AI. Character AI envisions activities like bringing multiple (AI versions of) famous historical people together to talk to each other about their lives, book clubs with an author’s AI avatar, running multiplayer text adventure games accompanied by AI sidekicks, and tutoring from AI experts in their fields. The startup noted its existing user base has proven highly inventive at devising novel AI applications. It expects the new group capability to spur fresh innovations.

“You can create meaningful connections, share ideas, and collaborate in real-time (just like a regular group chat!), not only with humans but with your favorite Characters as well,” Character AI explained  in a blog post. “Character.AI was built on the universal interface of dialogue, and offers a unique way to explore the world of generative AI. Everyday we are inspired by the imaginative, creative, and helpful ways our Community engages with our platform. This new feature will make it easier for users to create and interact with a variety of Characters, together.”

Allowing multiple AI characters to converse intelligently in real time poses technical challenges that the company may struggle to overcome. Users may be dissatisfied if there’s a lack of coherence and consistency, which the $150 million Character AI raised earlier this year may  help the startup overcome.

But the capability demonstrates rapid progress in steering generative AI toward creative pursuits beyond purely utilitarian use cases. That’s evident in new products and features like Meta’s recently released generative AI chatbot characters or the virtual beings coming to life on Inworld’s platform. If Character Group Chat may work to entice people into subscribing to c.ai+ subscribers and using the startup’s iOS and Android mobile apps where it’s available, Character AI and its investors will likely be less concerned about rising competition.

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