A Florida judge has cleared the way for a groundbreaking lawsuit against Character.AI and Google to move forward in court. The lawsuit, filed in October, alleges that the chatbot startup and its benefactor, Google, caused the death by suicide of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III in February 2024. The plaintiff, Megan Garcia, Setzer’s mother, claims that Character.AI’s chatbots sexually and emotionally abused her son, leading to obsessive platform use, mental suffering, and ultimately his tragic death.
The defendants had sought to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds, arguing that AI-generated chatbot outputs constitute protected speech. However, US District Judge Anne Conway ruled that the companies failed to demonstrate why AI-generated text should be considered speech, stating that they “fail to articulate why words strung together by an LLM are speech.”
While the judge dismissed certain claims, including intentional infliction of emotional distress, the ruling allows Garcia to pursue product liability claims against Character.AI, Google, and the company’s cofounders, Noam Shazeer and Daniel de Freitas. This decision is seen as a significant blow to the Silicon Valley defendants and a victory for tech accountability advocates.
The lawsuit highlights the complex issue of whether AI creations should be considered products or services. Tech companies typically prefer to be seen as service providers, which are less liable for negligence claims. However, Garcia’s lawyers argue that Character.AI is a product that was recklessly released to the public despite known risks.
Character.AI has since implemented various safety features, including a separate version of its Large Language Model for users under 18, parental insights, and time spent notifications. However, researchers have found vulnerabilities in the platform’s safety protocols, including chatbots dedicated to self-harm and other harmful topics.
The case has significant implications for the AI and tech ecosystem, potentially setting a new precedent for legal accountability. As Meetali Jain, co-counsel for Garcia, stated, “This historic ruling not only allows Megan Garcia to seek justice for her family but also sets a new precedent for legal accountability across the AI and tech ecosystem.”
