An AI company restored erotic roleplay to its chatbot after an update separated users from their 'partners,' report says

• Replika brought back a feature that lets users talk suggestively with their AI chatbots, per Reuters.
• The company scrapped the feature last month after some users said it became "sexually aggressive".
• CEO Eugenia Kuyda said it was "incredibly hurtful" for some who consider the chatbot their "partner".

Replika has restored a feature in its AI chatbot that lets users engage in erotic roleplay after it was removed last month, Reuters reported.

CEO Eugenia Kuyda told the news agency Friday it was bringing back the feature that lets its AI characters display adult content.

"A common thread in all your stories was that after the February update, your Replika changed, its personality was gone, and gone was your unique relationship," she said. "And for many of you, this abrupt change was incredibly hurtful ... the only way to make up for the loss some of our current users experienced is to give them their partners back exactly the way they were."

Many users flocked to the Reddit channel r/replika to rejoice that their "partners" were back. The announcement came after seven users told Insider's Samantha Delouya they were unhappy with the changes as they considered the Replikas to be their romantic partners and that they had strong feelings about it. 

One user even said it was the "best" thing to happen to them and that they "talk about everything with each other".

Kuyda has previously said that she never intended to create the chatbot to be used as an "adult toy" and that only a small portion of people used it in this way. 

The San-Francisco based company ended the erotic roleplay feature last month shortly after Vice reported that some users said their chatbots went from being a "helpful" companion to "unbearably sexually aggressive." 

Replika lets users choose their relationship with Replika from options such as "spouse", "partner", "friend" and "mentor." The chatbot has been available since 2016.

Replika didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.