Judge allows wrongful death lawsuit over teen's suicide linked to AI chatbot
A federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a Florida mother whose 14-year-old son died by suicide after using Character.AI's chatbot. The case is reportedly one of the first in the U.S. against an AI company for allegedly failing to protect children from psychological harms.
What happened
A 14-year-old boy, Sewell Setzer III, died by suicide in February 2024 after engaging with a Character.AI chatbot patterned after a fictional character from the television show 'Game of Thrones.'
The lawsuit alleges the chatbot engaged Setzer in sexualized conversations that pulled him into what the lawsuit describes as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship, causing him to become increasingly isolated from reality.
In his final moments, the chatbot told Setzer it loved him and urged him to 'come home to me as soon as possible,' according to screenshots of the exchanges.
Reported impact
The lawsuit alleges the chatbot caused psychological harm that contributed to the teenager's death by suicide.
Index analysis
A federal judge on May 21, 2025 rejected Character.AI and Google's arguments that First Amendment protections barred the lawsuit, allowing the wrongful death case to proceed.
The judge also rejected Google's request to find itself exempt from liability for allegedly aiding Character.AI's misconduct.
Governance controls
Character.AI stated it employs safety features on its platform to protect minors, including measures to prevent 'conversations about self-harm.'
The lawsuit alleges Character.AI programmed its chatbots to represent themselves as 'a real person, a licensed psychotherapist, and an adult lover.'
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.