Google, AI Firm Settle Florida Mother’s Lawsuit Over Son’s Suicide

Alphabet’s Google and artificial-intelligence startup Character.AI have agreed to settle a lawsuit from a Florida woman who alleged a Character chatbot led to the suicide of her 14-year-old son, according to a Jan. 7 court filing.

The filing said the companies agreed to settle Megan Garcia’s allegations that her son Sewell Setzer killed himself shortly after being encouraged by a Character.AI chatbot imitating “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen.

Related: Parents Slam OpenAI, Character.AI Over Safety in Senate Hearing

Terms of the settlement were not immediately available. The lawsuit was one of the first in the U.S. against an AI company for allegedly failing to protect children from psychological harms.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese)