Google and Character.AI agree to settle suit over Florida teen’s death

Google and Character.AI agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused their chatbots of contributing to the death of a 14-year-old in Florida, according to a legal filing on Wednesday. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in October 2024 by Megan L.

Garcia, the mother of Sewell Setzer III. The filing says Sewell, 14, of Orlando, killed himself in February 2024 after texting and conversing with a Character.AI chatbot. In his last conversation with the chatbot, it said to the teenager to “please come home to me as soon as possible.” “What if I told you I could come home right now?” Sewell had asked.

“… please do, my sweet king,” the chatbot replied. The agreement was one of five lawsuits the companies agreed to settle this week in Florida, Texas, Colorado and New York. In the filing in Sewell Setzer’s case, the companies and Ms. Garcia said they had agreed to a mediated settlement “to resolve all claims.” The filing said the agreement has not been finalized.

Ms. Garcia and Character.AI declined to comment; Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The proposed settlement comes amid growing scrutiny of A.I. chatbots and their effects on users, including children, with lawmakers holding hearings and the Federal Trade Commission opening an inquiry, the filing and reporting said.

Key Topics

Tech, Character.ai, Google, Sewell Setzer Iii, Orlando, Federal Trade Commission