By Clare Duffy, CNN
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Photo: JAQUE SILVA
WARNING: This story contains content that may be disturbing to some readers.
Character.AI has agreed to settle multiple lawsuits alleging the artificial intelligence chatbot maker contributed to mental health crises and suicides among young people, including a case brought by Florida mother Megan Garcia.
The settlement marks the resolution to some of the first and most high-profile lawsuits related to the alleged harms to young people from AI chatbots.
A Wednesday (US Time) court filing in Garcia's case shows the agreement was reached with Character.AI, Character.AI founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, and Google, who were also named as defendants in the case. The defendants have also settled four other cases in New York, Colorado and Texas, court documents show.
The terms of the settlements were not immediately available.
Matthew Bergman, a lawyer with the Social Media Victims Law Centre who represented the plaintiffs in all five cases, declined to comment on the agreement.
Character.AI also declined to comment. Google, which now employs both Shazeer and De Freitas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Garcia raised alarms around the safety of AI chatbots for teens and children when she filed her lawsuit in October 2024. Her son, Sewell Setzer III, died seven months earlier by suicide after developing a deep relationship with Character.AI bots.
The suit alleged Character.AI failed to implement proper safety measures to prevent her son from developing an inappropriate relationship with a chatbot that caused him to withdraw from his family.
It also claimed the platform did not adequately respond when Setzer began expressing thoughts of self-harm. He was messaging with the bot - which encouraged him to "come home" to it - in the moments before his death, according to court documents.
A wave of other lawsuits against Character.AI followed, alleging that its chatbots contributed to mental health issues among teens, exposed them to sexually explicit material and lacked adequate safeguards. OpenAI has also faced lawsuits alleging that ChatGPT contributed to young people's suicides.
Both companies have since implemented a series of new safety measures and features, including for young users. Last year, Character.AI said it would no longer allow users under the age of 18 to have back-and-forth conversations with its chatbots, acknowledging the "questions that have been raised about how teens do, and should, interact with this new technology".
At least one online safety nonprofit has advised against the use of companion-like chatbots by children under the age of 18.
Still, with AI being promoted as a homework helper and through social media, nearly a third of US teenagers say they use chatbots daily. And 16 percent of those teens say they do so several times a day to "almost constantly," according to a Pew Research Centre study published in December.
Concerns around the use of chatbots aren't limited to children. Users and mental health experts began warning last year of AI tools contributing to delusions or isolation among adults, too.
Where to get help:
- Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
- Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
- Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
- Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
- Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
- Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
- What's Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
- Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
- Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
- Healthline: 0800 611 116.
- Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
- OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
Sexual Violence
- NZ Police.
- Victim Support 0800 842 846.
- Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00.
- Rape Prevention Education.
- Empowerment Trust.
- HELP (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655.
- Safe to talk: 0800 044 334.
- Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
- Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496.
Family Violence
- Women's Refuge: 0800 733 843.
- It's Not OK 0800 456 450.
- Shine: 0508 744 633.
- Victim Support: 0800 842 846.
- HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655.
- The National Network of Family Violence Services NZ has information on specialist family violence agencies.
- CNN