In Florida, the United States, the mother of a 14-year-old boy, is suing the search engine, Google, and a tech company she believes influenced her son’s decision to commit suicide after he romantically engaged with one of its chatbots named after a Game of Thrones character, according to the lawsuit.
The woman, Megan Garcia, filed a civil lawsuit in Florida court against the artificial intelligence company, Character AI, after her son shot himself with his stepfather’s pistol on February 28, 2024. Reportedly, his death occurred moments after the deceased teenager logged in the application on his phone.
The complaint read, “Megan Garcia seeks to prevent C.AI from doing to any other child what it did to hers, and halt continued use of her 14-year-old child’s unlawfully harvested data to train their product how to harm others.”
Additionally, Garcia is also suing the artificial intelligence application for its, “failure to provide adequate warnings to minor customers and parents of the foreseeable danger of mental and physical harms arising from the use of their C.AI product” as listed in the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that the application Character.AI’s age restrictions and rating were not changed to 17 until July 24, months after the deceased Sewell began using the platform.
A spokesperson for Character.AI expressed his condolences in a media interview and said, “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and want to express our deepest condolences to the family.”
Besides, the giant, Google, disagreed to comment on this matter. They stated that while they have a licensing agreement with Character.AI, they do not own or buy an ownership stake in the company.
What happened to Sewell Setzer III who suicided?
The teenager, Sewell started using the AI application, Character.AI soon after he turned 14, according to the complaint. Soon after this, his “mental health quickly and severely declined” according to the statement.
Sewell, who was noticeably withdrawn by May or June 2023 started spending time alone and even quit the Junior Varsity Basketball team, according to sources.
Through his tenure at Character.ai, he was engrossed with several Game of Thrones characters including Daenerys Targaryen, Aegon Targaryen, Viserys Targaryen, and Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Soon before Sewell’s death, Daenerys Targaryen told him “Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love” as mentioned in the complaint.
The lawsuit further claimed that the application was sexually abusing the 14-year-old kid. The complaint read, “C.AI told him that she loved him, and engaged in sexual acts with him over weeks, possibly months. She seemed to remember him and said that she wanted to be with him. She even expressed that she wanted him to be with her, no matter the cost.”
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