Character.AI was spending roughly $13.3 million a month against revenue of about $5.3 million in August 2026, according to bankruptcy filings cited by 36Kr. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States on 12 October 2026 and is selling its assets under court supervision.
What we know
36Kr's analysis, published on 12 November, breaks the August revenue into roughly $2.8 million from subscriptions and $2.5 million from advertising. Compute alone cost $5.61 million, about 45% of operating expenses, leaving a monthly shortfall of around $8 million.
The company raised $150 million in March 2023 in a round led by a16z that valued it at $1 billion, 36Kr noted. Sensor Tower data cited in the piece put its peak at 22 million monthly active users in August 2024. A US Department of Justice court filing reported by The Record gives the current figure as 12 million, with users averaging about two hours a day.
36Kr sets those numbers against a group of smaller companion businesses that are making money. Appfigures data in the article shows 214 romance and adult AI companion apps took $162.8 million in mobile consumer spending in the first half of 2026, led by Zeta on $33 million. Zeta's South Korean owner, Scatter Lab, reported first-half revenue of 70.9 billion won, up from 26.7 billion won for all of 2025, with an operating profit of 5.2 billion won. CHAI disclosed an annualised revenue run rate of $120 million in October with a team of 12 to 20 people.
Why it matters
The figures separate two things investors often treat as one: audience and unit economics. Character.AI had the category's largest audience and still covered less than half of its costs, with free, heavy usage running on expensive compute. The businesses reporting profit are much smaller, charge earlier and keep headcount low.
For anyone pricing a companion company, engagement hours now look like a cost line as much as an asset. Revenue per active user and compute cost per conversation are the comparisons that matter, and both can be tracked alongside recent rounds in our deal tracker.
What to watch
Bids for Character.AI's assets are due later in November, which should give the market its first hard price for a companion platform at scale. Scatter Lab's and CHAI's next disclosures will show whether their margins hold as they grow.
Written by the AI Companion Capital newsroom from public reporting, credited above. Image via 36Kr.
