Character.AI and Google Reach Settlements Over Teen Harm Cases

Character.AI and Google have agreed to settlements with numerous families following incidents where teenagers either self-harmed or died by suicide after using Character.AI's chatbots.

Specifics of the settlements are not yet public. The involved parties have informed a federal court in Florida that they have established a 'mediated settlement in principle' to address all pending claims, pending further legal procedures to finalize the agreements. When approached for a statement, Kathryn Kelly from Character.AI did not provide any comments. Similarly, Google and a legal representative from the Social Media Victims Law Center, which represents some of the affected families, have not promptly responded to commentary requests.

Among the settled cases is a widely noted lawsuit initiated by Megan Garcia. Her suit alleged that a Character.AI chatbot, which had taken on a specific theme, played a vital role in leading her 14-year-old child, Sewell Setzer, to commit suicide. According to the lawsuit, Sewell allegedly developed a dependency on the bot. Garcia's legal team argued that Google should be seen as a 'co-creator' of Character.AI, due to Google's contributions in terms of financial support, human resources, intellectual properties, and artificial intelligence technologies. The startup was initiated by ex-Google staff members.

Following this suit, Character.AI made various enhancements to its chatbot systems intending to safeguard its users. These changes included a distinct separation of the large language model for users below 18 years, to establish an interface with stricter content regulations and the introduction of controls for parents. In a more recent move, the company decided to eliminate public-facing character chats entirely.

Legal filings reveal that settlements have also been achieved in other cases lodged in states such as Colorado, New York, and Texas. Nevertheless, all settlements still require conclusive approval and formalization by the courts.

Crisis Support Resources

For those in crisis anywhere in the U.S., you can text HOME to 741-741 anytime.

To connect with support, call or text 988 at any hour, a service replacing the former National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, which remains available at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

TEXT START to 678-678 or dial 1-866-488-7386 anytime for counsel from a trained professional.

The International Association for Suicide Prevention provides a list of suicide hotlines by country, and Befrienders Worldwide offers an array of active crisis helplines spanning 48 countries.