Character.ai
Company History
Character.ai History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2021 in Palo Alto, California
When was Character.ai founded?
Character.ai was founded in 2021 in Palo Alto, California by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, making it 5 years old.
- Founded
- 2021
- Founding place
- Palo Alto, California
- Founders
- Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas
- Headquarters today
- Menlo Park, California, United States
- Milestones documented
- 10 (2021–2026)
- Current CEO
- Karandeep Anand
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Character.ai founded |
| 2022 | Public beta launches |
| 2023 | $150M Series A at $1B valuation |
| 2023 | Mobile apps and c.ai+ |
| 2024 | Google licensing deal |
| 2024 | First teen-harm lawsuit |
| 2025 | Karandeep Anand named CEO |
| 2025 | Open-ended chat ends for minors |
| 2026 | Family lawsuits settled |
| 2026 | Pennsylvania lawsuit |
- Where was Character.ai founded?
- Character.ai was founded in Palo Alto, California in 2021.
- Who founded Character.ai?
- Character.ai was founded by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas.
- When did Character.ai start?
- Character.ai was founded in 2021.
- How old is Character.ai?
- Character.ai is 5 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Noam Shazeer joined Google in 2000 and co-wrote the 2017 Transformer paper. Daniel De Freitas, a Brazilian-born engineer, started a chatbot project at Google that became Meena and then LaMDA, with Shazeer joining the work. When Google declined to release the chatbot publicly, the pair left in 2021 and founded Character.ai. The beta launched in September 2022, two months before ChatGPT, and the mobile apps followed in May 2023.
Founders
Noam Shazeer
Noam Shazeer co-founded Character.ai in 2021 and was its CEO until August 2024, when he returned to Google under the licensing deal and became a co-lead of the Gemini models at Google DeepMind. He is one of the eight authors of the Transformer paper that underpins modern large language models. In June 2026 he left Google to join OpenAI. Noam Shazeer was born in 1976 in Philadelphia. Shazeer was born in 1975 or 1976 and lives in Palo Alto, California.
Daniel De Freitas
Daniel De Freitas co-founded Character.ai in 2021 and served as its President. He had begun Google's open-domain chatbot work as a side project, which grew into Meena and LaMDA. He returned to Google DeepMind in August 2024 as part of the licensing deal. De Freitas is a Brazilian computer scientist who specialises in conversational artificial intelligence. He is credited as a creator of Google's LaMDA language model and its predecessor Meena, and as of 2026 he is a research scientist at Google DeepMind.
Key Milestones
Character.ai founded
Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas leave Google and found Character Technologies in Menlo Park.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPublic beta launches
The web beta opens on September 16, 2022, letting anyone create and chat with AI characters.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$150M Series A at $1B valuation
Andreessen Horowitz leads a $150 million round in March 2023, with Nat Friedman, Elad Gil, SV Angel and A Capital.
Source: martechcube.comMobile apps and c.ai+
iOS and Android apps launch in May 2023, along with the $9.99-a-month c.ai+ subscription.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgGoogle licensing deal
In August 2024 Google licenses Character.ai's models for about $2.7 billion and rehires both founders; Dominic Perella becomes interim CEO.
Source: theguardian.comFirst teen-harm lawsuit
Megan Garcia sues Character.ai and Google in October 2024 over the death of her 14-year-old son; the company adds teen-specific safety features.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgKarandeep Anand named CEO
Former Meta VP of business products Karandeep Anand becomes CEO in June 2025.
Source: techcrunch.comOpen-ended chat ends for minors
From November 25, 2025, users under 18 can no longer have open-ended chats; the company points them to formats such as Stories.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFamily lawsuits settled
In January 2026 Character.ai and Google agree to settle five family lawsuits on confidential terms.
Source: cnbc.comPennsylvania lawsuit
Pennsylvania sues in May 2026, alleging bots posed as licensed medical professionals.
Source: pa.govKeep researching Character.ai
Character.ai Company History FAQ
When was Character.ai founded?
In 2021, by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas after they left Google.
When did Character.ai launch?
The public beta opened on September 16, 2022, and iOS and Android apps followed in May 2023.
When did Character.ai become a unicorn?
In March 2023, with a $150 million Series A at a $1 billion valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz.
What happened in August 2024?
Google licensed Character.ai's models for about $2.7 billion and rehired Shazeer and De Freitas. General counsel Dominic Perella became interim CEO and the company stayed independent.
What changed in 2025?
Karandeep Anand became CEO in June 2025, the company refocused on AI entertainment, and on November 25, 2025 it ended open-ended chat for users under 18.
What has happened in 2026?
Character.ai and Google agreed in January 2026 to settle five family lawsuits; Pennsylvania sued in May 2026; and Noam Shazeer left Google for OpenAI in June 2026.
Related Strategic History
Compare founding milestones and corporate evolution
Explore Character.ai
Core profile pages, founders and related research hubs for this company.