The AI companion industry, covered daily.

Thursday, 12 November 2026Live wire · updated every 30 min

The memory wars: why remembering you is becoming the most valuable feature in AI companionship

Models are commoditising fast. What users stay for is a companion that knows their history — and that changes how platforms should be built.

By Editorial Team · 2 min read · 3 days ago

Regulation

By the numbers

Counted from our news wire

Stories on the wire 14d

24 in the last 7 days

Funding & M&A stories 30d

Rounds, deals & revenue

Regulation stories 30d

8 laws & actions tracked

Platforms in directory Global

Consumer apps & infrastructure

PARTNER

Featured Partner · Infrastructure

Launch your own AI companion brand in 48 hours.

WhiteLabelFans builds and runs fully branded AI companion sites on your domain — companions, chat, content, billing, age verification and compliance handled. You bring the traffic; you keep up to 60% revenue share.

Apply to partner →Read the platform profile

48hFrom approval to live site

60%Revenue share, up to

$0Upfront for launch niches

100sNiches ready to deploy

Latest from across the industry

Regulation

Character.AI Faces Imminent Bankruptcy: How the AI Companionship Industry Is Quietly Raking in Massive Profits

36Kr3h ago

Product

Chinese Tech Giant Tencent Launches AI Companions For Gamers

80 Level3h ago

News

The Quest to Build an Immortal AI Companion

The Atlantic4h ago

News

'He Lost The Person He Loved' Says Own Your Mind Author On Doctor's Heartbreak Over AI Girlfriend

Times Now5h ago

Partner Content

Inside the stack: how operators launch an AI companion brand in 48 hours

Partner · WhiteLabelFans5 days ago

News

What AI Companion Apps Should Tell You Before Your First Chat

Hypefresh Magazine, Inc.6h ago

News

Lonely Gamers Get AI Companions as Tencent Opens Beta for Assistant That Watches Gameplay and Talks Back

www.techtimes.co.uk8h ago

Regulation

Character.AI’s Bankruptcy Chat Data Sale Is Privacy ‘Nightmare’

Bloomberg Law News8h ago

News

I asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude & Perplexity about AI companions in 2030 — here's what surprised me

Yahoo Tech8h ago

Regulation

AI Chatbot Liability Lawsuits: Tracker of Youth-Harm and Companion-Chatbot Cases

FourWeekMBA11h ago

Regulation

Time to Ban AI Companions

First Things12h ago

Product

Hulu's new horror movie about an AI companion gets chatbots uncomfortably right

MakeUseOf20h ago

Product

New framework examines one-sided human-AI relationships and potential risks for consumers

Tech XploreYesterday

News

Character.ai sale notice in USA Today leaves 9 days to object

PPC LandYesterday

Open the full Live Wire →

Analysis & guides

All analysis & guides →

Analysis

The state of AI companions in 2026: a market map

The category has split into five distinct segments, each with its own economics and its own pressures. A guide to who is where, what is driving them, and what could knock them off course.

5 min read4 days ago

Guide

Age assurance for AI companion operators: a practical guide

2 min read6 days ago

Analysis

SFW vs 18+: the two economies of AI companionship

5 min read5 November 2026

Guide

Guide: payments, processors and chargebacks for companion businesses

5 min read3 November 2026

Guide

Guide: choosing a model stack for a companion product

5 min read31 October 2026

Analysis

Retention, not acquisition, decides who wins

5 min read30 October 2026

Guide

Guide: marketing AI companion apps without getting banned

5 min read28 October 2026

Interviews

About the series →

In Conversation

In ConversationVideo & podcast interview series

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Launching soon

The founders, operators and researchers shaping how people relate to AI — on the record.

Long-form interviews on retention, regulation, safety and the business of companionship

Platform directory

Full directory →

WhiteLabelFansPartner

Infrastructure · B2B

White-label AI companion sites for traffic owners.

48hTo launch

60%Rev share, up to

$0Upfront

WebYour domainRevenue share (up to 60%)

Character.AI

Consumer app · B2C

User-created characters at massive scale.

iOSAndroidWebFreemium + subscription

Candy.ai

Consumer app · B2C

One of the biggest adult AI companion brands.

WebSubscription + tokens

OurDream.ai

Consumer app · B2C

Adult AI companions with image and video generation.

WebSubscription + credits

Janitor AI

Consumer app · B2C

Web-scale character chat built by its community.

WebFreemium + subscription

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Regulation tracker

Full tracker →

8 rules and actions tracked

By status, as of our last review.

In force4

Enacted2

Enforcement1

Inquiry1

Jurisdictions: European Union, California, US, New York, US, United Kingdom, FTC, US, Italy, Australia, China

AI Act — transparency obligationsEuropean Union · Providers must make clear to users that they are interacting with an AI system, with labelling duties for synthetic content.

IN FORCE

SB 243 — companion chatbot safeguardsCalifornia, US · Disclosure that the companion is AI, protocols for users expressing self-harm, and extra protections for minors.

ENACTED

AI companion model safeguardsNew York, US · Requires detection of and response to suicidal ideation and periodic reminders that the user is talking to an AI.

IN FORCE

Online Safety Act — age assuranceUnited Kingdom · Services that allow pornographic or other harmful content must use highly effective age assurance.

IN FORCE

Section 6(b) inquiry into companion chatbotsFTC, US · Federal study of how companion chatbot providers measure, test and monitor potential harms to children and teens.

INQUIRY

Data protection enforcementItaly · The Garante has taken enforcement action against a companion app over data processing and age-verification failings.

ENFORCEMENT