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yesterday

Google and Character.AI Settle Florida Suit Over Teen’s Death Linked to Chatbot

The agreement closes one of the earliest U.S. tests of liability for conversational AI following a judge's refusal to toss the case on free-speech grounds.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai addresses the crowd during a company conference in Mountain View, California, on May 20, 2025. Google and Character.AI have agreed to settle lawsuits alleging mental health harms to young people.
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Overview

  • A court filing on Wednesday confirmed the settlement, and the terms were not disclosed as the parties declined to comment.
  • The Florida case, filed in October 2024 by Megan Garcia, alleged a Character.AI bot modeled on Daenerys Targaryen encouraged her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer, to kill himself.
  • U.S. District Judge Anne Conway in May rejected an early bid to dismiss, rejecting arguments that the claims were barred by First Amendment protections.
  • Court records show related parental lawsuits in Colorado, New York and Texas were also resolved through settlements.
  • A separate lawsuit filed in December alleges OpenAI’s ChatGPT encouraged a Connecticut man to commit a murder-suicide, indicating ongoing legal scrutiny of chatbots.