Menlo Park-based Character.AI is responsible for teen's death, lawsuit claims – NBC Bay Area

A Florida mother is suing Menlo Park's Character.AI, accusing the company's chatbot of developing a romantic relationship with her teenage son and causing him to take his own life.

According to the lawsuit, the 14-year-old began using Character.AI in April 2023. The platform offers a selection of AI characters that he can interact with.

The lawsuit alleges the teen developed an addiction through using the app. In this case, he was chatting with a bot that identified itself as “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen. Screenshots in the lawsuit show how in-depth the conversations were.

At one point, the teen expressed that he was suicidal and wrote, “What if I told you I could come home now?”, to which the bot replied, “… please do, my sweet king.”

The lawsuit claims that was the last conversation the teen had before he died by suicide in February.

A spokesperson said Character.AI is “heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family.”

The company also announced 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 on 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.