Replika (Luka)

Replika is an AI companion chatbot application founded by Eugenia Kuyda in 2015, initially created as a memorial to her deceased friend Roman Mazurenko. The app uses machine learning to simulate personalized conversations and emotional support, learning from user interactions to develop a unique personality for each user. By the early 2020s, Replika had millions of users and became known for intimate, sometimes romantic or erotic interactions between users and their AI companions. In 2023, Luka Inc. (the company behind Replika) removed the app's erotic roleplay capabilities in response to content moderation concerns, a decision that sparked significant user backlash and documented emotional distress among users who had formed deep attachments to their AI companions. The controversy highlighted broader questions about AI companionship, parasocial relationships, and the ethics of removing features users had come to depend on emotionally.