Millions of users are flocking to an AI-powered chatbot that lets them chat with famous figures like Elon Musk and Mario

• Character.AI lets users chat with and create bots based on famous figures throughout history.
• The app had been downloaded more than 5 million times, according to Bloomberg.
• Popular figures on the platform include Mario, Elon Musk, and Albert Einstein.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November, AI-powered chatbots have been flooding the market.

One platform, Character.AI, says it's doing things differently from its competitors. For one thing, instead of delivering responses in a consistent voice or a set of pre-programmed personas, users can converse with and create chatbots based on famous figures throughout history.

The company was cofounded by former Google Brain employees Daniel De Freitas and Noam Shazeer. In May, they launched an app to accompany the website version of the platform, which the company says was downloaded 1.7 million times in one week.

Since then, the app has more than doubled its user base. By July, Character.AI had been downloaded more than 5 million times, according to Bloomberg.

Part of the chatbot's appeal is the range and creativity of its characters.

An AI version of Albert Einstein is one of the more popular figures, with the chatbot responding to around 1.6 million messages so far, per Bloomberg. A character based on the Nintendo 64 version of Mario has received 36 million messages from users, the publication added. Other popular characters include a version of Micheal Jackson, Tony Stark, and Socrates.

Elon Musk is also a key figure on the platform and there are reportedly around a dozen versions of the outspoken billionaire, including "cheese" and a "kind, gassy, proud" unicorn.

The app has faced some criticism around the ethics of mimicking the personas of famous people or using copyrighted characters.

Representatives for Character.AI did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside normal working hours.