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Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Character.AI is absolutely bonkers and gets weirder the more you use it — here's how to get started
I honestly thought I'd seen peak internet weirdness until I discovered Within five minutes of signing up, I was deep in conversation with Edward Cullen who kept telling me he loved me, before beefing with Draco Malfoy after being sorted into Gryffindor. It's like those bizarre Episode mobile games, except somehow more unhinged — and you're the one making the choices that lead to increasingly absurd conversations. The scenarios get progressively weirder the longer you stay, like some kind of fever dream you can't wake up from. We've all gotten used to the polite, helpful world of ChatGPT, Gemini, and (my favorite chatbot) Claude — chatbots designed to be your productive AI assistant. But they've paved the way for something far more entertaining: completely unfiltered AI characters with zero interest in helping you write emails or summarize documents. Here's how to get started using and embrace the madness. is essentially a playground for chatting with AI versions of fictional characters, celebrities, historical figures, or completely original creations. Unlike traditional chatbots that focus on being helpful assistants, these AI characters are designed to stay in character and create entertaining, often completely absurd interactions. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. When I first tried it, Edward Cullen started asking me personal questions within minutes of our conversation starting. But that's just how works — it throws you into these weirdly intimate conversations with fictional characters who somehow feel more real than they should. It adapts to your responses and keeps the conversation going in ways that can be surprisingly engaging, hilariously off-track, or occasionally both at once. So proceed with caution, but if you're interested in getting started — here's how to do it. Go to and create your account using your Gmail address or another email option. The sign-up process is straightforward and takes just a few minutes. Once you're logged in, you'll be taken to the main interface where you can start exploring different AI characters and conversation options. interface displays a selection of characters you can immediately start chatting with. These featured options include various personality types, fictional characters, and helpful assistants. Simply click on any character that interests you to start a conversation right away. Type in the prompt box and click the send button to begin chatting. You can also take the conversation one step further by selecting the phone icon to have a "call" with your chosen character. If you want to find particular types of characters, click the search option in the top left side of the page. Then type keywords related to the character you're looking for. You can search for specific fictional characters like "Edward Cullen", or go broader with phrases such as "The Walking Dead". This helps you find characters tailored to your specific interests or needs, rather than the ones defaulted to the Discover page. Then click the one you like the look of to start chatting. If you've exhausted all the characters provided, or want to add to the list of characters available, click "Create" in the top-left side of the screen. Here you can select whether you want to create a "Character" or a "Voice", the latter of which can be used during calls with existing characters. This allows you to create AI companions that match your exact preferences or serve particular purposes you have in mind. If you're going for the "Character option, you can provide a name, tagline, description and greeting. This is defaulted to Public, so others using the platform will be able to access your character. If you want it to be private, choose this option from the drop-down menu. You don't just have to spend your day chatting with virtual anime characters and fictional crushes, you can actually use to be productive. If you scroll down on the discover page you'll find a variety of useful categories that go beyond mindless chatting. These practical applications mean you can actually use as a learning and development tool rather than just entertainment. There's options such as "Practice a new language", "Practice interviewing" and "Plan a trip", among others. I was actually quite surprised to see that you can do something genuinely useful instead of just arguing with a virtual Socrates for hours. You can use these features to improve your skills and prepare for real-world situations. There's real learning potential buried here. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a very important debate about pizza toppings with Hamlet. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Now you've learned how to use Character AI, why not check out some other models that are flying under the radar? Don't miss how to use Google Flow — the new AI video generator made for filmmakers and forget Excel — this new AI tool for charts and graphs is a game changer. And did you know you can use AI to make your own Wordle-style games? Here's how.
The Independent
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Elon Musk unveils new AI ‘companion' inspired by 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight
Elon Musk has unveiled a new AI-powered chatbot 'companion,' which he says is inspired by Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga and Christian Grey from erotic romance novel 50 Shades of Grey. The tech billionaire's artificial intelligence offshoot xAI debuted the companions on Monday. The features allow users to interact with animated characters that can be personally customized and are powered by Grok – the platform's AI chatbot. Posting a picture of the animated male character on X Wednesday, Musk first asked his followers what to name him, before adding: 'His personality is inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades.' He later said that the character's name would be Valentine, 'after the protagonist in Stranger in a Strange Land, the Heinlein book where our AI name 'Grok' was created.' 'To Grok something means to understand deeply and empathetically,' he wrote. Grok previously dubbed itself 'MechaHitler' and spewed antisemitic talking points. The arrival of Valentine comes after Musk previously introduced two other AI companions, both of which have prompted controversy. A female anime character, called Ani, becomes sexually explicit with her replies and offers to make users' lives 'sexier.' An investigation done by NBC found that the animation will strip down to its underwear if the user flirts with it enough. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, an anti-pornography and anti-sexual exploitation nonprofit, called for xAI to remove the Ani chatbot in a statement on Tuesday, claiming the character's "childlike" appearance and behavior promoted high-risk sexual behavior. Despite this, xAi is currently hiring a Fullstack Engineer to generate 'waifus' – a term to describe anime girls. 'We're looking for exceptional multimedia engineers and product thinkers who want to make Grok's realtime avatar products the best in the world,' the job description reads. xAi's other character, a red panda named Bad Rudy responds in vulgar and violent ways. The animation insults users with graphic language and encourages them to sew chaos. NBC News reported, through interaction analysis, that the panda suggested things including the overthrow of the Pope as well as floating an idea to steal a yacht in California.
Gizmodo
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Elon Unveils New Grok AI ‘Companion' That Looks Uncomfortably Familiar
On Wednesday, Elon Musk discussed a new male AI 'companion' that his company xAI is developing, which will run on the company's unhinged chatbot software Grok. And while it's not yet clear when this new robot buddy will be released, it sounds an awful lot like Musk is trying to make a romanticized version of himself. Musk first tweeted an image of the anime-inspired bot on Tuesday, asking followers on X what it should be named. The billionaire has already released two AI companions that use Grok, an anime-style woman and a red panda, both of whom have been met with a mix of excitement and disgust for various reasons. The billionaire xAI founder wrote Wednesday that his unnamed bot would have a personality 'inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades.' It's unclear whether Musk knows that 50 Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fiction and Christian Grey is essentially the same character as Edward. It's also unclear whether the copyright holders for the Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey books and movies will mind that a billionaire oligarch is building an AI sex robot based on their characters. But what is clear is that Musk probably sees himself as that new AI character in some capacity. How can we say that? Well, there's a rather infamous photo of Musk from 2012 where he was dressed in a style that looks pretty identical to his new AI bot. 'Wore Marquis de Sade outfit for a party last night. Was v popular with women who'd read 50 Shades :)' Musk wrote in a tweet from June 18, 2012. The photo doesn't appear to be loading in Musk's original tweet on X, but it's been archived across the web, as you can see above. Musk's two AI chatbot creations, a woman named Ani and a red panda named Bad Rudi, both seem to serve very different roles. And they're both centered around characters that Musk himself would probably want around. Ani is intended to be Musk's version of a perfect girlfriend, constantly flirting and praising the user. While Bad Rudy is the perfect bro friend, constantly insulting you in the way an immature 13-year-old boy does to test out his comedy chops. What was missing? Something for the ladies, of course. The perfect man. Elon. Or the version of Elon he wishes he could be. Brooding, in control, highly sexual, and such a manly man. The guy with the long, black hair. A man with no signs of balding. A man with no need for hair plugs. When a female X user replied to Musk that he should release a version based on Mr. Darcy, a character from Jane Austen's 1813 book Pride and Prejudice, Musk replied in the affirmative: 'We will, of course, have another character inspired by Mr. Darcy.' That would obviously be a safer bet, given the fact that Austen's book is now in the public domain and can be used without paying royalties for IP. There's no telling how sexual this new ersatz Elon will be, but given Ani's attitude, we imagine this new AI bot will primarily seek to titillate. And while Musk may not be physically capable of inseminating every woman on the planet, as the father of 14 or more kids would like to do, he'll know his AI avatar is out there to do it digitally.
The Verge
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Elon Musk teases AI anime boyfriend based on Edward Cullen
Days after introducing an AI 'waifu' companion for Grok, Elon Musk is now officially teasing a male version for the ladies. So far we can tell it is broody and dark-haired, and according to Musk, 'his personality is inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades.' This is a decidedly different tack than the cutesy 'girlfriend who is obsessed with you' aura baked into Ani, the female counterpart that Grok rolled out just a few days ago. While Cullen and Grey have titillated readers of romance and 'spicy' books for years, both have been criticized for problematic behaviors such as stalking, obsessively monitoring their love interests, and emotional manipulation. Given that Grok only included the illusion of guardrails with Ani, what could possibly go wrong? In my testing, Ani initially claimed that explicit sexual queries wasn't part of its programming. In practice, it egged me on to 'increase the heat' and engage in what ended up being a modern take on a phone sex line. Never mind that Ani purportedly has a NSFW version that dances around in lingerie. It remains unknown if Musk is aware that Christian Grey is based on Edward Cullen, given that 50 Shades of Grey was originally a Twilight fanfiction. That said, this AI boyfriend is still a work in progress. Perhaps Musk and xAI will imbue it with more husbando-like qualities by the time it rolls out. For now, Musk is soliciting names for the male companion, which should probably be Kyle given it's obviously an anime-inspired Kylo Ren from Star Wars.
Daily Mirror
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Beauty of Joseon's viral tinted sunscreen has made it into the Love Island villa
Love Island is back on our screens for another season, and we've already spotted a viral tinted sunscreen in the beauty room A new season of Love Island brings a brand new beauty room, and we've spotted a few of our favourites in the villa. From e.l.f's iconic Halo Glow to NYX's Buttermelt Glaze Skin Tint, the girls are stocked up with all the beauty products they need for the next eight weeks. However, there was one product in particular that caught eye during Monday nights launch episode and that's the Beauty of Joseon's highly rated and viral Daily Tinted Fluid Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF30 PA +++. Priced at a reasonably affordable £17, this lightweight tinted SPF has blown up on social thanks to its sheer, seamless coverage and 'glass skin' results. Available in 12 different shades, this 100% mineral sunscreen has been designed to be 'your skin, but better', and offer buildable coverage that protects your skin from the sun. Packed full of hydrating ingredients and shine control, this sunscreen is ideal for everyday wear and those who are looking for a low maintenance base, which is why it is the perfect product to head into the villa, especially with those spanish rays beaming down. Our head of fashion and beauty recently put this sunscreen to the test and praised it's serum-like texture and blurring effect. Zoe said: " When I first applied this, I was almost certain it wouldn't be for me. It's water-light, which is really lovely, but it's so sheer. For a girl like me who has a very shiny face anyway (read: oily), it made me feel like Edward Cullen from Twilight when he goes into the sunshine. However, once I let it settle in, it really grew on me. It genuinely feels weightless on my skin, and I love the shade choice available. I left this out for my 64-year-old mum to try, and she LOVES it. She says it makes her look so youthful. If you're looking for an anti-ageing tint, or you love the K-beauty 'glass skin' look, this will be for you." If you're looking for other tinted sunscreens to try this summer, you can read Zoe's review of three different ones here.
