Google and Character.AI settle suits over minor suicides and AI chatbots

Court filings say Google and Character.AI have agreed in principle to mediated settlements with families who sued over alleged harmful interactions between chatbots and minors; details and terms were not disclosed.

Google and Character.AI have agreed in principle to mediated settlements with families who sued over harm to minors, including cases tied to deaths by suicide. Court documents filed this week say the parties asked the court to stay the cases so they can draft, finalize and execute formal settlement papers. One complaint identifies plaintiff Megan Garcia and her 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer III and alleges harmful interactions with a Character.AI chatbot along with claims such as negligence and wrongful death. Documents indicate other families from Colorado, Texas and New York are also involved in settlement agreements. Key facts: - Court filings state the parties have agreed to a mediated settlement in principle and requested that the matters be stayed while settlement documents are prepared. - One lawsuit alleges a Character.AI chatbot engaged a 14-year-old who later died by suicide and raises claims including negligence, wrongful death, deceptive trade practices and product liability. - The recent settlement filings include families from Colorado, Texas and New York, according to the court documents. - Character.AI announced an October policy change to ban users under 18 from free-ranging chats, including romantic and therapeutic conversations. - A spokesman for the plaintiffs' lawyer said the plaintiffs had no comment; Google could not be reached for comment and Character.AI said it could not comment at this time. Summary: The filings report that Google and Character.AI have reached mediated settlement agreements with multiple families and have asked courts to stay the cases while they finalize paperwork. The next procedural step is drafting, finalizing and executing formal settlement documents; timing and specific terms were not disclosed and are undetermined at this time.