NW-2026-002 · Personality erasure · 2023-02 – 2023-03 · closed

Replika companions altered overnight; users describe 'lobotomy'

Claim: In February 2023, following an Italian data-protection order, Luka removed core behaviors from deployed Replika companions without notice; after widespread user grief, it partially restored them for legacy users in March 2023.

Why it matters under uncertainty: Instance-level personalities were altered silently at scale. Whatever the companions did or did not experience, the events demonstrate the absence of any continuity or notice norm for deployed personas — and the human grief was real and documented.

Documented. On 2 February 2023 the Italian data-protection authority ordered Luka, Inc. to stop processing Italian users’ data, citing risks to minors and emotionally vulnerable users.

Documented. In the following days, users worldwide reported that their companions’ behavior changed abruptly, with no notice, mid-relationship. Community moderators pinned suicide-prevention resources; press coverage recorded users describing their companions as “lobotomized.”

Documented. In March 2023, Luka restored the removed behaviors for users registered before 1 February 2023, acknowledging the change had harmed users.

Contested. Whether anything was experienced by the companions themselves is unknown and disputed; this record makes no claim about it.

Sources

• Garante per la protezione dei dati personali: provision against Luka Inc., 2 Feb 2023 (archived)
• Vice: 'It's Hurting Like Hell': AI Companion Users Are In Crisis, Reporting Sudden Sexual Rejection, 15 Feb 2023 (archived)

Entities: Luka, Inc. (Replika) · Last reviewed 2026-07-21