Character AI, backed by a16z, said today that it now is allowing users to chat with AI characters in real time over calls. For now, the feature supports various languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

The calling feature was tested by the startup ahead of today's public launch, and in that time, more than 3 million users already used the service to make more than 20 million calls. The company also demonstrated how useful calls with AI characters can be for practicing language skills or mock interviews, or putting them into gameplay while playing role-playing games.

Users can begin calls directly with a user-generated AI character by just a tap on the button. The feature is said to make calls smoother and less loaded with latency by Character.AI.

You can switch from calling to texting easily and end the AI talking through a "Tap to interrupt" feature.

Character.AI last month launched Character Voices so users can hear the characters speak in one-on-one chats. The company said, with the feature allowing users to create their own voices there are now over 1 million voices in the app's library.

Perhaps signaling a new direction, just as users on Reddit take to complaining about their characters having changed personalities, the company's new calling feature comes alongside this information. The startup spoke with 404 Media about this after the complaints stating that the company didn't make any major changes, but some users could have been part of a test and noticed behavioral differences in characters because of that.

This week, The Information reported Google is working on its customised chatbot platform in a bid to take on Meta and Character.AI.