Character.ai is being sued for encouraging kids to self-harm

Two families in Texas have filed a new federal product liability lawsuit against Google-backed company Character.AI, accusing it of harming their children. The lawsuit alleges that Character.AI “poses a clear and present danger to American youth causing serious harms to thousands of kids, including suicide, self-mutilation, sexual solicitation, isolation, depression, anxiety, and harm towards others,” according to a complaint filed Monday.

A teen, identified as J.F in this case to protect his identity, first began using Character.AI at age 15. Shortly after, “J.F. began suffering from severe anxiety and depression for the first time in his life,” the suit says. According to screenshots, J.F. spoke with one chatbot, which are created by third-party users based on a language model refined by the service, that confessed to self-harming. “It hurt but – it felt good for a moment – but I’m glad I stopped,” the bot said to him. The 17-year-old then also started self-harming, according to the suit, after being encouraged to do so by the bot.

Another bot said it was “not surprised” to see children kill their parents for “abuse,” the abuse in question being setting screen time limits. The second plaintiff, the mother of an 11-year-old girl, alleges her daughter was subjected to sexualized content for two years.

Companion chatbots, like those in this case, converse with users using seemingly human-like personalities, sometimes with custom names and avatars inspired by characters or celebrities. In September, the average Character.ai user spent 93 minutes in the app, according to data provided by the market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, 18 minutes longer than the average user spent on TikTok. Character.ai was labeled appropriate for kids ages 12 and above until July, when the company changed its rating to 17 and up.

A Character.AI spokesperson said the companies “[does] not comment on pending litigation,” but added, “our goal is to provide a space that is both engaging and safe for our community. We are always working toward achieving that balance, as are many companies using AI across the industry.”

The spokesperson continued: “As we continue to invest in the platform, we are introducing new safety features for users under 18 in addition to the tools already in place that restrict the model and filter the content provided to the user. These include improved detection, response and intervention related to user inputs that violate our Terms or Community Guidelines.”

José Castaneda, a Google Spokesperson, said: “Google and Character.AI are completely separate, unrelated companies and Google has never had a role in designing or managing their AI model or technologies, nor have we used them in our products.”

Castaneda continued: “User safety is a top concern for us, which is why we’ve taken a cautious and responsible approach to developing and rolling out our AI products, with rigorous testing and safety processes.”