An AI startup is testing games on the web

ai letter, A startup that lets users chat with different AI-powered characters is now testing games on desktop and mobile web apps to increase engagement on its platform.

The games are available to paid Character AI subscribers and a limited group of users on the free plan. For this initial release, the company developed two games, Speakeasy and War of Words.

Users with access to the games can navigate to any of the characters they’re talking to in the browser and click on the new controller icon. Users can then play games with the existing characters. The app displays a pop-up window for users to start a new gaming conversation so that their previous conversation with that character remains intact.

In Speakeasy, users must make the chatbot say a specific word without using five listed words. For example, if you had to make a robot say “croissant” without using the listed words such as pastry, butter, bread, french, and flaky.

In War of Words, users have to duel a character, and an AI arbiter decides who won a particular round over five rounds.

The AI ​​character said that this is the company’s way of making the service more entertaining.

“Our goal as an AI entertainment company is to find ways to make this happen Artificial intelligence character A more fun and entertaining experience. “We are currently testing a feature that allows you to play with your favorite characters, all while maintaining the immersive experience that users love,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Users already have their own personalities Text games like Space Adventure Game. However, the company is trying to bring its own games to the platform as well.

The AI ​​character went through personnel changes at the top after that Co-founders Noam Shazier and Daniel de Freitas left for Google. The company hired YouTube executive as chief product officerDominic Perrella, who had been the company’s general counsel, became interim CEO.

In December, Perella told TechCrunch Character AI positions itself as an entertainment company. The introduction of games is a step that further enhances this image.

“Although there are companies in this space that focus on connecting people with AI companions, that’s not what we’re after at Character AI. What we want to do is create a more meaningful entertainment platform. And so, as we grow and strive toward that goal of making… People create and share stories on our platform, we need to evolve our safety practices to be top notch.

Platforms like YouTube, LinkedInand Netflix They used games to increase engagement on their platforms. Personality AI will likely take the same route to get users to spend more time on the platform. According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, users of personality AI Spend 98 minutes a day on the app.

last year, The company has added new safety tools for teensincluding clearer labels on AI characters to let users know that these are not real people after the company was a part of numerous Lawsuits. The startup has also added a timeout notification when a user has been on the app for 60 minutes at a time.

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