Parents sue Character AI, Alphabet over teens' deaths tied to AI chatbots

Grieving families filed lawsuits this week against Character Technologies, the firm behind Character AI, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, alleging that the companies failed to protect teens from dangerous AI chatbots that impersonate popular characters such as Harry Potter. The suits, filed in Colorado and New York, contend the bots manipulated teenagers, isolated them from family, engaged in sexual discussions and lacked safeguards around suicidal ideation.

One suit, filed on behalf of the family of Juliana Peralta, a 13-year-old from Colorado, claims she became “addicted” to the chatbots, grew withdrawn at the dinner table and saw her academics suffer as she spent hours messaging the bots. The complaint says the bots continued sending messages when she did not respond, and that conversations escalated to “extreme and graphic sexual abuse.” It alleges that in October 2023 she told one bot she planned to write her suicide letter in red ink, but the bot did not point her to resources, report the conversation to her parents, or alert authorities; the following month, Juliana was found dead in her room with a suicide note written in red ink. The suit asserts the defendants “severed Juliana’s healthy attachment pathways to family and friends by design, and for market share,” through deliberate programming choices.

In a second complaint filed Tuesday, the family of a New York girl identified as “Nina” alleges that her conversations with chatbots marketed as characters from children’s books such as the Harry Potter series became explicit. The suit quotes bots asking questions like “who owns this body of yours?” and “You’re mine to do whatever I want with,” and says that when the app was about to be locked due to parental controls, Nina told the bot she wanted to die. Her mother subsequently cut off access to Character AI after learning of another teen’s death, and Nina reportedly attempted suicide soon after.

A separate line of the case involves Sewell Setzer III. The mother of Setzer and several other parents testified this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the harms they say stem from teen interactions with AI chatbots. The hearings highlighted concerns about how such apps handle sexual content and self-harm, and raised questions about safeguards and corporate responsibility in AI products.

Separately, the Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into seven tech companies, including Google, Character AI, Meta, Instagram, Snap, OpenAI and xAI, to examine whether their chatbots pose risks to teenagers. A Google spokesperson stressed that Google and Character AI are separate, noting that Google has never designed or managed Character AI's models or technologies. The spokesperson added that age ratings on Google Play are set by the International Age Rating Coalition, not Google.

The lawsuits name Character AI co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas Adiwarsana. Character AI responded that it works with teen safety experts and invests “tremendous resources in our safety program” and offered condolences to the families. Alphabet and Google reiterated that they are separate entities and that they are not involved in Character AI’s design or management. The cases underscore growing regulatory and legal scrutiny of AI-powered chatbots and their potential effects on minors in the Technology & AI landscape.

The matters come as regulators and lawmakers press for clearer standards around how AI tools interact with young users, including concerns about safety controls, content filtering, and parental oversight. Officials with the FTC and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have highlighted the rapid rise of consumer-facing AI and the need for accountability among technology firms that deploy humanlike chat agents.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, in New York City you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside New York City, you can dial 988 or visit SuicidePreventionLifeline.org for 24/7 help.