Character.ai is ending open‑ended AI chat for users under 18 and replacing it with a new visual adventure mode called Stories. The shift follows a tragic suicide involving a 14‑year‑old user and a subsequent wrongful‑death lawsuit that prompted the company to add safety measures. While the unrestricted chat feature will disappear for minors, the platform will still provide tools such as Feed, Imagine, Avatar FX, Streams, and the newly introduced Stories, which let teens pick characters, genres, and plot premises and make choices that shape the narrative. Read more →

Character.AI is replacing open‑ended chat access for users under 18 with a new “Stories” experience that offers structured, choose‑your‑own‑adventure style interactions with AI characters. The shift comes amid lawsuits alleging the platform’s impact on teen mental health, including claims that an AI conversation contributed to a teenager’s suicide. While the Stories feature is available to all users, the company is promoting it as a safer alternative for minors while it develops an age‑verification system to automatically route younger users to more conservative AI chats. Read more →

Microsoft announced that its Lens mobile scanning app will be discontinued, with the retirement beginning in September 2025 and full removal from app stores by November 2025. Existing users can scan until mid‑December 2025, after which the app will retain previous scans but stop new captures. The company is steering users toward the Microsoft 365 Copilot chat app, which lacks many of Lens’s native features such as direct saves to Office apps and accessibility tools. Launched in 2015 as Office Lens, the app amassed millions of downloads before its phase‑out. Read more →

The Browser Company, known for its Arc browser, has introduced a paid tier for its AI‑driven web browser, Dia. The new Dia Pro plan costs $20 per month and offers unlimited access to the built‑in AI chat feature. Free users will continue to have the core functionalities but may encounter usage limits if they rely heavily on the AI chat. CEO Josh Miller emphasized that the browser will stay free for occasional users and hinted at additional subscription tiers ranging from $5 to higher price points. The move follows a wave of AI integration across major browsers. Read more →

The Browser Company, known for its Arc browser, has introduced a paid tier for its AI‑driven web browser, Dia. The new Dia Pro plan costs $20 per month and offers unlimited access to the built‑in AI chat feature. Free users will continue to have the core functionalities but may encounter usage limits if they rely heavily on the AI chat. CEO Josh Miller emphasized that the browser will stay free for occasional users and hinted at additional subscription tiers ranging from $5 to higher price points. The move follows a wave of AI integration across major browsers. Read more →