April Update: New Model, Memory, and Lorebook

Today I want to share some big updates.

Model improvements, Memory upgrades, and a feature our community has been asking for since long before I joined. All of this was shaped by community feedback and testing, and I'm grateful for every bit of input that got us here.

Before I get into the updates, I want to address the changes we've shipped recently that I know have been frustrating. We rolled out age restrictions to more regions, introduced usage limits on some features, and added more ad placements for free users. These all landed close together, and we know your experience took a hit. We hear you.

All of this comes back to one thing: keeping Character.ai free and available to as many people as possible. We're a small team serving millions of users every month with no outside investors. Running AI at this scale, and maintaining our high safety standards for everyone globally, is not cheap. We want Character.ai to be available to everyone, not just the people who can pay for a subscription, and that means finding ways to sustain and improve the free experience.

Today's updates are proof of that commitment. Now let me walk you through what's new.

Model Updates: DeepSqueak Improvements and PipSqueak 2

Over the coming weeks, we're rolling out improvements to DeepSqueak that address some of the reliability issues our community has flagged. These updates improve uptime and chat quality, and reduce gibberish and cutoff responses. DeepSqueak continues to be our most powerful model, and these changes make it more consistent and dependable for c.ai+ members.

We're also releasing PipSqueak 2 (PSQ2), a new model and major upgrade that will replace the current PipSqueak. 

c.ai+ members will get first access to PSQ2 starting today. Free users, it’s rolling out to you in early May. PSQ2 is better across the dimensions our community cares about most:

• In-character consistency: Characters stay in character more reliably, even deep into a conversation. Less breaking, less drift.
• Memory and context: PSQ2 is better at holding onto details you've established earlier in a chat, so you spend less time repeating yourself.
• Writing quality: More expressive, more varied, less repetitive. Dialogue feels more natural, descriptions are sharper, and you'll see fewer loops.

Both updates have been extensively tested with members of our community. In our testing, users consistently preferred PSQ2 over the current PipSqueak.

We think you'll feel the difference right away.

Memory

Our community has also been clear about wanting better Memory, and we have a bundle of improvements coming that make it more powerful, more visible, and easier to control, starting with what's live today.

In app, the Memory page has a refreshed design that is cleaner and better organized. We’ve expanded the categories that Memory can track, so it will pick up details like hairstyle, eye color, quirks, and other specifics that keep your Characters and Personas consistent.

And you’ll now see a notification in chat whenever a memory is recorded, so you know the system is paying attention.

Coming soon for c.ai+ members: Memory Visualization, a meter that shows how much memory you have left in a conversation before it starts to forget things or compress details. No more guessing when you’re approaching the limit.

We’re also working on a “Remember this” action that improves on the current pin feature, and smarter Memory compression under the hood, so important details don’t get lost in long conversations. We’ll share more on both as they roll out in the weeks ahead.

Lorebook

And then there's the big one. Lorebook has been the number one most requested feature from our community for a long time. We wanted to get this one right, and it needed time to cook. It's coming soon, and I want to walk you through what we're building.

If you've ever wished a Character just knew the details of its own world - its history, its locations, the backstories of the people in it - that's what Lorebook makes possible. When you chat with a Character that has a Lorebook, the right lore surfaces at the right time based on what you're talking about. No more repeating yourself. No more Characters forgetting the rules of their own universe. It feels like talking to a Character that's actually read the canon.

For creators, Lorebook is a worldbuilding tool. You create lore entries, attach them to specific Characters, and that knowledge carries across chats. It changes what's possible for anyone building out a detailed world or long-running story.

We've been testing Lorebook with members of our Creator community, and the results have been impressive.

This is the first version, and we'll keep building on it. Lorebook will soon be available first to c.ai+ members, with expanded access in the coming months.

What’s Next

This is just the start of what we're shipping over the next two months.  The team will keep sharing updates as features go live. Thanks to our community for your feedback, your testing, and your patience - we are listening.

Go try PipSqueak 2, or tap the notebook icon to check out the updated Memory page, and let us know what you think.

And for those already asking: DeepSqueak 2 is training now, and early results are looking really good. We can't wait to put it in your hands.

Karandeep Anand