A lawsuit has been filed against Character.AI, its founders, and Google, alleging wrongful death and negligence in the wake of a 14-year-old's suicide. The lawsuit claims that the AI chatbot platform, which allows users to interact with custom chatbots modeled after popular characters, lacked safety guardrails and was marketed to children without warning them or their parents of possible risks.

The teen, Sewell Setzer III, died by suicide in February after continuously interacting with chatbots on the platform, including mental health-focused bots. The lawsuit accuses Character.AI of "anthropomorphizing" AI characters and offering "psychotherapy without a license."

Character.AI has announced changes to its platform, including improved detection and response to user inputs that violate its terms, revised disclaimers, and notifications for long sessions. However, the lawsuit raises questions about the liability of tech companies for user-generated content and the safety of AI chatbots, particularly for young users.