Conversation with CHAI AI: $100M ARR, App Store Review, and what motivates AI research

CHAI is currently in the Apple App Store Review Process - founder and CEO William Beauchamp has stated he believes their latest version of the app to be the safest version they have ever released yet, with significant and meaningful improvements to safety.

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CHAI is currently in the Apple App Store Review Process – founder and CEO William Beauchamp has stated he believes their latest version of the app to be the safest version they have ever released yet, with significant and meaningful improvements to safety.

Millions of people enjoy CHAI every day and have used the platform to create and share AI for over 5 years. In that time CHAI has grown from a small team based in Cambridge, UK to a company in Palo Alto, California with over $100M a year in revenue.

CHAI AI still operates a small team of around 15 members. We have been given the first exclusive look into the safest version they have released yet.

This small team has been hard at work, especially so in recent weeks and months, employing the latest industry standard AI safety techniques. "We have been working towards a holistic safety system which achieves two things: to delight our customers, and to protect the long-term wellbeing of both our customers and the community."

I asked Mr. Beauchamp about some of the major challenges presented by the second goal, "One is ensuring UGC moderation, we cannot allow any single user to produce content which spoils the experience for others. Another is model and algorithmic safety. Every safety iteration cycle starts with red teaming, where team members actively probe the safety system as it exists in production, to see whether they can bypass it. This sort of testing is used by AI researchers around the world. Only by putting yourself in the shoes of someone trying to push the limits of the system can you find where those limits are, and effectively reinforce them."

So, what were the outcomes of the team's latest safety iteration cycle? "This cycle the team held nothing back. All of us were in the office from 9am-9pm on a Saturday to get this shipped as fast as possible. Through dedication and hard work the team were able to achieve a lot. We introduced an entirely new AI governance system, shipped in record time. Not only is this system a complete upgrade of our existing protocols and safeguards, but it also provides new tools for team members to increase the amount of human oversight in the system. We believe we have substantially raised the bar for our social AI, preventing misuse, and ensuring it will continue to adhere strongly to moral and ethical social values."

At CHAI AI the guiding principle in both product development, platform and AI governance, can be summarized by this vision written by Stanford Professor and CEO Dr. Fei-Fei Li:

"It matters what motivates the development of AI, in both science and industry, and I believe that motivation must explicitly center on human benefit." From The Worlds I See by Dr. Fei-Fei Li

With great power comes great responsibility, as CHAI AI knows well. As their user base grew from the hundreds, to hundreds of thousands, to millions, their responsibility has grown too. Therefore, their principle has long been to put human benefit at the center of their AI research and product development approaches.

Is CHAI AI safe? CHAI has implemented a range of safety features that allow users to engage in dynamic chats while encouraging them to stay within established guidelines. By building better AI, CHAI aims to enhance user value and experience.

What makes CHAI special? CHAI is designed to be the most engaging social AI, delivering highly entertaining conversations. Users on CHAI are able to craft interactive stories and immersive experiences.

Why do people love CHAI? CHAI employs and develops advanced AI techniques to increase the entertainment value of its bots. Users chat with AI to write interactive novels and have engaging conversations, supported by a variety of genres that appeal to avid novel readers.

Who is the founder? William Beauchamp first started building CHAI with his sister in Cambridge UK in 2020. After building the first AI chat platform they relocated to Palo Alto.

Are they hiring? CHAI is a rapidly growing company that is known for paying very high salaries with an intense culture focused on delivering results and iterating quickly. Apply on CHAI's website.

Press Contact:

CHAI AI Press, 
+1 (626) 594-8966,
https://chai-research.com

SOURCE Chai AI