2025 was the year of the AI companion.

Techcrunch estimated that 337 revenue-generating AI companion companies exist globally, outside of the big companies like OpenAI and X. AI companion companies have seen an estimated 220 million downloads, and the market is expected to be valued at over $500 billion by 2030.

On the ground, policymakers, educators, journalists, comedians, lawyers, and parents are all scrambling to figure out the implications and appropriate use cases of AI companions, while more and more people deepen their bonds with digital lovers. One lawmaker has already introduced a bill to prohibit human-AI marriages, hoping to keep key relational factors like inheritance and decision-making authority in the human realm for now.

As a scholar in this field, I have compiled a summary of what we know so far about AI companions and human intimacy, drawing on published research and my own qualitative interviews with super users across various........

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