Microdramas have taken the internet by storm, and the previously embattled Character.ai wants a slice of that cake. Microdramas are the telenovelas of the social media age. They are drama-filled and juicy romantic stories often laden with cliches involving forbidden affairs, mafia bosses, and even werewolves. They are filmed vertically and often on a very low budget and short timeline, and posted scene by scene on apps like TikTok or Instagram Reels. This new-age entertainment format’s origins trace back to China, where they were first popularized in the late 2010s on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Over the past year or so, the format has experienced a significant surge in popularity in much of the rest of the world, too. The trend began on TikTok, where these microdramas first hooked audiences before prompting them to download dedicated microdrama streaming apps to watch the rest of the show. One of those apps, ReelShort, was downloaded 38 million times in the American App Store last year, beating Netflix. Since then, Hollywood and streaming giants like Peacock have jumped on the microdrama bandwagon, and now, it’s the AI industry’s turn. Character.ai announced on Thursday that it is launching a series of new, original, in-house microdramas called “c.ai Series.” The shows will launch on the entertainment tab of the Character.AI mobile app. Taking matters a step further than the regular microdrama offerings, Character.AI will also offer AI chatbots based on each character in the series that users can engage with after an episode ends.