About this time last year, though? Google was crowning Character.AI as Google Play's first-ever "Best with AI" app of the year. "AI made a major splash in 2023 allowing people to harness the ...

In the face of piling controversy — and a second lawsuit concerning the welfare of children — Google has taken pains to downplay its relationship to the embattled AI chatbot startup Character.AI.

It was the fourth-most downloaded app in the US in the first half of 2024, surpassing Google-backed rival Character.ai, which ranked 10th, according to data research firm Sensor Tower. Globally ...