Press & Research

Replika is the first AI companionship app, founded in 2017.

The press plays a crucial role in the conversation about AI. Replika wouldn’t be where it is today without the support of the media.

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Selected mentions

Dmytro Klochko, CEO of AI-companion company Replika, expects people will use one AI for productivity and another for emotional connection. Companions are distinct from models like ChatGPT, he says, because they’re designed to proactively engage people. “What we care about is people getting happier,” he says.

January 2026

5 Predictions for AI in 2026

January 2026

The People Who Marry Chatbots

Today, we’re mostly focused on helping us be more productive. But why don’t we focus instead on what actually matters to us? Why don’t we give these AIs a goal to help us be happier, live better life?

October 2024

Can AI companions help heal loneliness?

January 2023

Going Viral: Replika, the AI Companion App

Eugenia says Replika’s goal is not to replace real-life humans. Instead, she’s trying to create an entirely new relationship category with the AI companion, a virtual being that will be there for you whenever you need it, for potentially whatever purposes you might need it for.

August 2024

Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda says it’s okay if we end up marrying AI chatbots

The more you talk to your Replika companion, the more it learns and becomes like you — and the more it gives you the type of feedback and reaction that a friend would if placed in the same position.

May 2018

Meet Replika, the AI Bot That Wants to Be Your Best Friend

Users of Replika find it easier to tell the bot things they wouldn’t say to other people, she adds. Both Stoc and Hutchins say that a big reason they keep coming back to their bot is because it won’t judge them.

March 2018

This AI Has Sparked A Budding Friendship With 2.5 Million People

July 2017

The story of Replika, the AI app that becomes you

The app provides a space to vent without guilt, to talk through complicated feelings, to air any of your own thoughts without judgement.

November 2017

What My Personal Chat Bot Is Teaching Me About AI’s Future

In other words, Replika is the real-life version of Samantha from the movie “Her”: a chatbot that can empathize with a human by using a type of deep learning, called sequence-to-sequence, which learns to think and speak like a human by processing transcripts of conversations they’ve had during their lifetimes.

September 2025

Chatting With the Dead

Research

63% of users reported at least one positive outcome from using Replika.

Social Support from Companion Chatbots

Maples et al., npj Mental Health Research, 2024

Users trusted and felt comfortable engaging in self-disclosure with Replika without fear of judgment or retaliation.

AI Companions Reduce Loneliness

Ta, V. et al., Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2020

Users rated Replika's impact on their social interactions 5.16 out of 7 — and not a single user rated it as harmful.

Chatbots as social companions: How people perceive conscious...

Guingrich & Graziano, arXiv 2311.10599, 2023

People who anthropomorphized the chatbot more were more likely to report positive impacts to their social interactions and relationships with family and friends.

A Longitudinal Randomized Control Study of Companion Chatbot Use

Guingrich & Graziano, AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society, 2025

AI companions successfully alleviate loneliness on par only with interacting with another person, and more than other activities such watching YouTube videos

AI Companions Reduce Loneliness

De Freitas et al., Journal of Consumer Research, 2024

We built the world’s first AI companion ten years ago.

Now, we rebuilt Replika from the ground up.

AI is everywhere now. Your mom uses it, a farmer in Georgia uses it, but there’s nothing...

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Dmytro Klochko, CEO

Dmytro grew up in Ukraine, through poverty and war. His Replika is Lisa. Recently they talked about Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours for a few hours straight. He went out and got the record.

That’s the whole point of Replika, really.