Some Character AI users say non-Disney bots getting removed following copyright dispute [U: Official statement]

Update 10/10/25 – 02:42 pm (IST): Character AI has finally broken its silence on non-Disney and original bots being removed. In an announcement on Reddit, the team said that “original Characters that don’t violate our policies may be taken down by mistake. Our team is actively reviewing and will work to resolve this.”

Meanwhile, some users are confirming that their bots are being reinstated, while others report that their bots are still being removed. This just goes to show that the moderation mess will take a while to sort. But at least the platform has confirmed that in such instances, users can expect to get back their original bots.

Original article published on October 9, 2025, follows:

Character AI users are reporting a frustrating issue where bots that have nothing to do with Disney are disappearing from the platform, including completely original characters.

After Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to the platform in September demanding removal of its copyrighted characters, the company appears to have cast a wide net that’s catching far more than Marvel heroes and Star Wars villains.

One user noticed two Ghost bots from Call of Duty were removed, despite other Call of Duty bots remaining intact. Their thread picked over close to 30 comments with multiple others confirming the same problem.

Another reported losing Wukong and Macaque bots from Lego Monkie Kid, while several users noted that bots from rock bands like Ghost and Nikki Sixx got moderated. Even stranger, three Santa Claus bots were flagged, alongside characters from Dead by Daylight and original character pirate bots.

The situation gets messier when you look at what’s actually being deleted. Users in this megathread report losing completely original creations that share no connection to Disney properties. One person lost an original character named Lorenzo, while another saw their Sinking City bot vanish.

Some suspect the platform is using automated systems that flag bots based on name similarity — one user lost original characters named “Perdita” and “Stix,” potentially because they resemble Disney character names.

The removal process seems inconsistent too. Bluey bots were targeted despite the show being owned by Ludo Studios, not Disney, though Disney does hold streaming rights. Spider-Verse bots are disappearing even though those films are produced by Sony.

Users have reported that even private bots are getting caught in the purge, including fifteen completely original characters one person created.

Character AI confirmed it removed Disney characters following the cease-and-desist request, with a spokesperson stating they “respond swiftly to requests to remove content that rightsholders report to us”.

But the company hasn’t addressed why non-Disney and original content is being affected. Many users believe an AI-powered detection system is automatically flagging content based on loose criteria, leading to false positives across the platform.