A Florida mother is suing Menlo Park’s Character.AI, accusing the company’s chatbot of initiating a romantic relationship with her teenage son and causing him to take his own life.
According to the lawsuit, the 14-year-old boy started using Character.AI in April 2023. The platform provides a selection of AI characters to interact with.
The lawsuit claims the teen developed a dependency for using the app. In this case, he was chatting with a bot that identified as “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen. Screenshots in the lawsuit reveal how deep the conversations got.
At one point, the teen expressed he was was suicidal and wrote, “What if I told you I could come home right now?” to which the bot responded “… please do, my sweet king.”
The lawsuit claims this was the last conversation the teen had before dying by suicide in February.
A spokesperson said Character.AI is “heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and want[s] to express our deepest condolences to the family.”
The company also said in a blog post that it is introducing new safety measures for minors.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.