At Stanford, several dozen participants took part in long conversations about the threats and benefits of using bots. “Ultimately, we see significant compliance,” says Radiant Liu, director of research programs at Stanford University. She emphasized the group’s excitement about “the ways we can use these tools to bring other people together.”
Teen safety
The main topic of discussion was how AI companions can influence adolescent people. From the perspective of employees, Character.AI, which is designed for role-playing and is popular among teenagers, as well as experts in the field of adolescent online health, e.g. Digital well-being laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital.
We focus on younger users because there are many parents sues chatbot creatorsincluding OpenAI and Character.AI, in connection with the death of children who came into contact with bots. As part of its response, OpenAI has added a number of modern safety features for teens. And next week Character.AI plans to do just that block users under 18 years of age access to the chat function.
Throughout 2025, AI companies have explicitly or implicitly acknowledged that they can do more to protect vulnerable users such as children who may interact with companions. “It is permissible to engage a child in romantic or sensual conversations,” reads an internal Meta document containing guidelines for AI behavior, according to Reuters reports.
While there was an outcry from lawmakers and Meta’s outraged parents changed the guidelines and updated the company details approach to security towards teenagers.
Role play assembly
While Character.AI attended the workshop, no one from Replika, a similar role-playing site, or Grok, Elon Musk’s bot with NSFW anime companions, was there. Spokespeople for Replika and Grok did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
At the entirely distinct end of the spectrum came the creators of Candy.ai, which specializes in racy chatbots for heterosexual men. Users of the adult-only platform created by EverAI can pay to generate uncensored photos of synthetic women with stories that mimic typical pornographic themes. For example, the companions featured on Candy’s home page are Mona, the “rebellious stepsister” you’re home alone with, and Elodie, a friend’s daughter who “just turned 18.”