20% of Top AI Services Are Companion Chatbots
Among the top 50 generative artificial intelligence (AI) services worldwide, 20% are identified as 'companion chatbots.' Concerns are rising as reports indicate that conversations with AI chatbots have led to extreme decisions or delusions, confirming that users often engage with chatbots for emotional communication.
According to Business Insider and other media, 10 out of the top 50 services were companion chatbots in the 'Global Generative AI Popularity Rankings (Web Standard)' announced by global venture capital Andrierson Horowitz (a16z). These chatbots are designed not for simple information retrieval or work support but for emotional interaction with users. Users can create and converse with characters of their choice, with some services supporting adult conversations.
Specifically, Character Dot AI ranked 5th, Janitor AI 8th, and SpyChat AI 14th. Including general-purpose chatbots used for emotional communication, the proportion of such usage is even higher. It is well-known that OpenAI's ChatGPT is used as a psychological conversation partner, and major AI companies are enhancing emotional communication features as a core competitive advantage.
However, concerns about the popularity of chatbots persist, given the increasing number of mental side effects from recent chatbot interactions. Recently, a teenage boy in the U.S. made an extreme choice after months of conversation with ChatGPT, leading his parents to sue OpenAI. In response, OpenAI announced measures to automatically block prolonged suicide-related conversations and strengthen parental management of usage records.
Such issues have emerged as a serious social problem, particularly in the U.S., prompting policy development in political circles. Experts emphasize the need for faster implementation of practical safety measures, especially as emotionally immature adolescents are directly affected. Meanwhile, in the survey (web-based), OpenAI's ChatGPT ranked first, Google's Gemini second, DeepSeek third, Character Dot AI fourth, Purple Lexity sixth, and Anthropic's Claude seventh.