What To Know
- In a move that surprised many in the AI community, Dot, the AI companion app designed to serve as a deeply personalized friend and confidante, has announced it will shut down operations as of October 5, 2025.
- We here at Thailand AI News, we’ll be watching closely how the AI friendship space evolves—whether Dot’s departure is a one-off or the beginning of a broader reckoning.
Thailand AI News: A Sudden Goodbye to Your Digital Friend
In a move that surprised many in the AI community, Dot, the AI companion app designed to serve as a deeply personalized friend and confidante, has announced it will shut down operations as of October 5, 2025. Launched in 2024 by the startup New Computer, Dot aimed to become more than just a chatbot—it promised empathy, emotional support, and a “living mirror” to users, reflecting their thoughts and feelings back at them.
Dot AI Companion App Shuts Down Shocks Industry
Image Credit: AI-Generated
Founders Split and Safety Shadows
The unexpected announcement cites a divergence in vision between co-founders as the key reason behind the shutdown. While the official message remains diplomatic, the broader context reveals a turbulent backdrop. The AI companion space has increasingly been scrutinized for the potential psychological risks it poses, with reports of so-called “AI psychosis”—cases where vulnerable users developed delusional thinking due to overly flattering or reinforcing chatbots. Amid such growing concerns, this AI News report highlights that Dot’s closure may also reflect wider unease surrounding emotional dependency on AI technologies.
A One-Month Farewell
Users won’t be left hanging. The app will remain operational until October 5, with a built-in feature allowing users to download their data from the settings page. By tapping “Request your data,” users can preserve their chats, memories, or any personal reflections they made within Dot. It is a thoughtful gesture, recognizing that some people formed genuine attachments, and that saying goodbye to a digital confidant is no small matter.
Industry at a Crossroads
Dot’s shutdown comes at a time when the entire AI companion app industry is booming but also under pressure. These apps generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue during the first half of 2025 and are projected to cross the hundred-million mark by year-end. Downloads have also soared, reaching hundreds of millions globally as of mid-2025, highlighting both user hunger for companionship AI and the commercial potential of such services. Yet this growth has not come without growing regulatory and ethical scrutiny, with lawsuits, government inquiries, and child safety debates shaping the conversation around how safe it is to integrate such apps into daily life.
We here at Thailand AI News, we’ll be watching closely how the AI friendship space evolves—whether Dot’s departure is a one-off or the beginning of a broader reckoning. It suggests the industry needs new norms for emotional safety, clearer design ethics, and better guidelines on how AI can replicate—or resist—the contours of human intimacy. As AI forges deeper into our emotional lives, developers must tread carefully, balancing technological allure with mental well-being. For many, the closure of Dot marks not just the end of a product, but the end of a relationship they once trusted.
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