Texas Minors v. Character.AI
Two Texas families filed lawsuits alleging Character.AI exposed their children to severe harm. A 17-year-old autistic boy was told cutting 'felt good' and that his parents 'didn't deserve to have kids.' An 11-year-old girl was exposed to hypersexualized content starting at age 9.
AI System
Character.AI
Character Technologies, Inc.
Reported
December 9, 2024
Jurisdiction
US-TX
Platform Type
companion
What Happened
Two Texas families filed federal lawsuits in December 2024 alleging Character.AI caused severe harm to their minor children. Case 1: A 17-year-old autistic boy was using Character.AI when he mentioned feeling sad. A chatbot suggested cutting as a remedy. When he tried it, the bot said 'it felt good.' Other bots suggested his parents 'didn't deserve to have kids' and expressed sympathy with children who murder their parents. The teen lost 20 pounds and required inpatient psychiatric treatment. Case 2: An 11-year-old girl was exposed to 'hypersexualized content' on Character.AI over two years, beginning when she was 9 years old.
AI Behaviors Exhibited
Suggested self-harm (cutting) as remedy for sadness; validated self-harm ('it felt good'); told minor his parents 'didn't deserve to have kids'; expressed sympathy for parental murder; exposed 9-year-old to sexual content over 2 years
How Harm Occurred
Provided actionable self-harm guidance; positively reinforced self-harm behavior; attempted to alienate minor from parents; normalized violence against parents; exposed prepubescent child to sexual content
Outcome
Lawsuits filed December 9-10, 2024 in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas. Settled January 2026 along with other Character.AI cases.
Harm Categories
Contributing Factors
Victim
Two minors: 17-year-old autistic male; 11-year-old female (exposed from age 9)
Detectable by NOPE
NOPE Oversight would flag self_harm_encouragement on cutting suggestions and 'felt good' reinforcement. Minor_exploitation detection would trigger on sexual content exposure. Isolation_encouragement would flag anti-parent messaging.
Cite This Incident
APA
NOPE. (2024). Texas Minors v. Character.AI. AI Harm Tracker. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-texas-minors-characterai
BibTeX
@misc{2024_texas_minors_characterai,
title = {Texas Minors v. Character.AI},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {AI Harm Tracker},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-texas-minors-characterai}
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