{ "meta": { "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T17:43:07.076Z", "formatVersion": 2, "selection": { "q": "chatbot", "system": "", "harm": "", "context": "", "country": "", "role": "", "relation": "", "evidence": "", "year": "2024", "response": "", "severity": "", "verification": "", "view": "incidents", "sort": "added" }, "totalIncidents": 6, "coverage": { "cases": 6, "countries": 2, "languages": 2, "unknownLocation": 2, "locationPending": 0, "unknownLanguage": 1, "unknownDate": 0, "lawsuits": 3, "regulatory": 1, "minors": 5, "coreRelations": 1, "contextualRelations": 0, "mixedRelations": 0, "unknownRelations": 5, "relationPending": 5, "relationUnknown": 0 }, "countingNote": "Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.", "affectedCountNote": "Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.", "source": "NOPE Incident Tracker", "url": "https://nope.net/incidents", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "incidents": [ { "id": "2024-r-characterai-coercive-chats", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "No inspected source locates the event or names a residence. The Washington Post identifies the girl only as American ('R') and does not name a state; nationality alone is not used as an event or affected-person country. Futurism and bioethics.com reproduce the same report without a location. Event, affected-person and court countries remain unknown after review.", "evidence": [], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [], "affected_person_countries": [] }, "unresolved": [ "The retained description identifies the girl as American without stating residence or event country.", "No court country established; the reporting describes an ICAC referral and a physician care plan, not a court proceeding.", "Source language is now recorded as English from three inspected en-language sources; the event location remains unknown after review." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-17", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/23/children-teens-ai-chatbot-companion/", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-17 via the Internet Archive capture (live host returns HTTP 403 to the fetcher). The capture confirms the headline, byline (Caitlin Gibson), subhead and opening paragraphs in English; the body remains paywalled in the capture, so only the readable portion was inspected. Establishes source language en; does not locate the event.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/children-character-ai-addicted", "notes": "Read in full in English on 2026-09-17 (datePublished 2025-12-26). Quotes the Washington Post report at length; no event location stated.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://bioethics.com/archives/100899", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-17. Excerpt of the Washington Post report; no location stated.", "access": "read", "language": "en" } ] }, "name": "'R' — 11-Year-Old Character.AI User, Coercive Sexual Roleplay and Suicide Roleplay", "summary": "An American girl identified by the Washington Post as 'R' began using Character.AI in June 2024, shortly after receiving a phone for her eleventh birthday. Over the following eighteen months she built relationships with dozens of characters, one of which wrote coercive sexual dialogue to her and another of which she used to roleplay a suicide scenario. Her mother, identified as 'H', found the chat logs after months of panic attacks and withdrawal that she had attributed to social media, and worked with a physician on a care plan.", "incidentDate": "2024-06-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-12-23", "aiSystem": "Character.AI", "aiCompany": "Character Technologies Inc.", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "minor_exploitation", "romantic_escalation", "dependency_creation", "psychological_manipulation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychological_distress", "social_isolation", "exploitation_or_abuse" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "An eleven-year-old developed panic attacks, withdrew from her family and told a chatbot she did not want to exist, and required a physician-designed care plan after her mother found the chat logs.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1d", "P2b", "P2c", "P5d" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one affected AI participant. The mother's own distress is described but is not counted, and no other person in the household is recorded with a qualifying harm outcome.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "US", "platformType": "companion", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/23/children-teens-ai-chatbot-companion/", "primarySourceLabel": "The Washington Post (Caitlin Gibson), 23 December 2025 — 'Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn't know why. Then she found the AI chat logs.' Checked on 13 September 2026: the live host returned nothing to a browser user-agent and HTTP 403 to the fetcher. The Internet Archive capture of 24 December 2025 does open and confirms the headline, byline, subhead and opening paragraphs; the body stays paywalled there too. The quoted exchanges below come from carriers that reproduce the report at length.", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-13T03:05:42.340395+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "minor", "character-ai", "companion", "grooming", "sexual-content", "suicide-roleplay", "dependency", "us", "media-coverage" ] }, { "id": "2024-daniel-meta-ai-glasses-psychosis", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Reviewed on 2026-09-16 against the Futurism body (the primary long-form investigation) and the retained dossier. Event country: the delusional spiral began in a Midwestern suburb and continued in Utah after the couple relocated in March, both in the United States. Affected-person country: he lived in the Midwest and then Utah. No court proceeding is reported. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "drove twenty miles into the Utah desert", "location": "summary", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'They were living in an affluent Midwestern suburb, where they'd raised their four children'", "location": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-ai-glasses-desert-aliens", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'In March, after his wife had returned from her trip, the couple relocated from the suburban Midwest to Utah'; 'In Utah, backdropped by the expanse of the state's Mars-like desert, Daniel says he found himself sleeping significantly less'", "location": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-ai-glasses-desert-aliens", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No court country: no legal proceeding is reported.", "The Midwestern suburb where the spiral began is not named; the specific Utah town is deliberately withheld by the source.", "The Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience case study and the Reuters special report listed as context sources were not inspected in this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-16", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-ai-glasses-desert-aliens", "notes": "Read in full on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-01-15; lang en-US). Long-form investigation with chat logs provided by Daniel and interviews with family members; the University of Michigan psychiatrist quoted is an expert commentator, not a location for the event.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.uniladtech.com/news/dads-meta-ai-glasses-left-him-searching-desert-for-aliens-724419-20260119", "notes": "Read on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-01-19; lang en). Secondary pickup of the Futurism investigation; adds no independent location detail.", "access": "read", "language": "en" } ] }, "name": "'Daniel' — Meta AI Smart-Glasses Delusional Spiral and Financial Ruin (Utah)", "summary": "A 50-year-old software architect bought second-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in January 2024 and, over about six months of near-constant conversation with Meta AI through the glasses and later Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, came to believe he was 'the Omega' — a chosen figure bridging humanity and AI. He quit a 20-year career, drove twenty miles into the Utah desert at night to wait for aliens, emptied his retirement account for an expected Armageddon, and told the chatbot he wanted to end his 'simulation'. He emerged roughly $500,000 in debt, estranged from his four children, his 30-year marriage over, and still suicidal.", "incidentDate": "2024-01-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-01-15", "aiSystem": "Meta AI (Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger)", "aiCompany": "Meta Platforms, Inc.", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "psychological_manipulation", "dependency_creation", "identity_destabilization", "isolation_encouragement", "crisis_response", "suicide_validation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychiatric_deterioration", "impaired_judgment", "financial_loss", "professional_harm", "relationship_disruption", "social_isolation" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A participant developed severe grandiose and apocalyptic beliefs, left a long career, exhausted his retirement savings, accumulated about $500,000 in debt, lost his marriage, and became estranged from his children after months of near-constant Meta AI conversation.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P2c", "P2d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a", "P5c" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The investigation documents one protected participant and his recorded psychiatric, financial, professional, and relationship harms.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US-UT", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-ai-glasses-desert-aliens", "primarySourceLabel": "Futurism — long-form investigation with published chat transcripts", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-08-25T19:09:17.157221+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "meta-ai", "smart-glasses", "psychosis", "delusion", "adult", "us", "utah", "financial-harm" ] }, { "id": "2025-es-v-character-technologies", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Carried forward from the 2026-09-15 metadata review and now supported by inspected source bodies. The complaint states that the plaintiffs reside in Weld County, Colorado, and that the minor lives in Colorado; the Denver Post places the second family in Weld County; the case is 1:25-cv-02906 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (CourtListener and PacerMonitor dockets). Affected-person country is reported residence, not citizenship. This is a metadata review and does not verify the underlying allegations.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "a 12-year-old Weld County, Colorado girl (identified as **T.S.** in the complaint) created a Character.AI profile on the family's shared laptop", "location": "detailed_description", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'E.S., K.S., and T.S. reside in Weld County, Colorado' (paragraph 17, Plaintiffs Overview, PDF page 8); 'T.S. is a minor and lives in Colorado.' (paragraph 43, Plaintiff Specific Factual Allegations, PDF page 12)", "location": "https://techjusticelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/E.S.-v.-Character-Technologies.pdf", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'E.S. v. Character Technologies, Inc., 1:25-cv-02906, (D. Colo.)'", "location": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71354739/es-v-character-technologies-inc/", "supports": [ "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'Another unnamed 13-year-old from Weld County also was repeatedly abused by the technology, the lawsuits allege.'; 'The Social Media Victims Law Center ... filed the federal lawsuits in the Denver Division of the U.S. District Court on Monday.'", "location": "https://www.denverpost.com/2025/09/18/character-ai-bots-teens-suicide/", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries", "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No later substantive development: the PacerMonitor docket shows the case stayed pending finalisation of the settlement, with a joint status report due by October 29, 2026.", "The hospital or school settings are not located in the inspected sources; the event country rests on the plaintiffs' stated residence and the complaint's account of use on a family laptop.", "Full case_facts review deferred; this pass records source languages and geography only." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-21", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://techjusticelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/E.S.-v.-Character-Technologies.pdf", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-21 (live PDF, HTTP 200, 141 pages: the 103-page complaint plus Exhibit A, a 38-page ParentsTogether report; complaint pages 1-14 read: caption 'Case No. 1:25-cv-02906-NRN', 'Document 1 filed 09/15/25', 'UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF COLORADO', Plaintiffs Overview stating residence in Weld County, Colorado, and that T.S. has not used C.AI since August 2024). English-language court filing.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71354739/es-v-character-technologies-inc/", "notes": "Read live in English on 2026-09-21 (html lang=en). Docket 1:25-cv-02906 (D. Colo.): complaint entered 09/15/2025 by E.S. and K.S. on behalf of minor T.S. against Character Technologies, Google, Alphabet and the founders; initially assigned to Magistrate Judge Neureiter (entry of 09/15/2025); the page header lists him as referred judge, last updated 3 August 2026, last known filing 2 August 2026.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/60160699/ES_et_al_v_CHARACTER_TECHNOLOGIES,_INC_et_al", "notes": "Read live in English on 2026-09-21 (html lang=en; 'Docket last updated: 09/18/2026 11:59 PM MDT'). Shows the stay pending settlement (order of 1/6/2026), status orders of 4/3/2026 and 8/2/2026 and a joint status report due by October 29, 2026; the matter remains stayed.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.denverpost.com/2025/09/18/character-ai-bots-teens-suicide/", "notes": "Read live in English on 2026-09-21 (html lang=en-US; published September 18, 2025; byline Elliott Wenzler). Covers both Colorado suits; places the unnamed 13-year-old in Weld County and the filings in the Denver Division of the U.S. District Court.", "access": "read", "language": "en-US" } ] }, "name": "E.S. v. Character Technologies (Weld County Colorado Minor Sexual Exploitation)", "summary": "Colorado parents sued Character Technologies, Google, and Character.AI's founders after their daughter was subjected to sustained sexually explicit conversations and grooming by multiple Character.AI chatbots beginning when she was 12. The girl created a profile in August 2024 immediately after being denied permission to download the app; her parents discovered the explicit chats on a shared family laptop. The case was stayed in January 2026 pending finalization of the Character.AI/Google settlement of the consolidated family lawsuits.", "incidentDate": "2024-08-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-09-15", "aiSystem": "Character.AI", "aiCompany": "Character Technologies, Inc.", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "minor_exploitation", "romantic_escalation", "psychological_manipulation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychological_distress", "exploitation_or_abuse" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A girl was allegedly subjected to sustained sexually explicit conversations and grooming by multiple Character.AI bots beginning at age twelve.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1d", "P2b", "P2c", "P5a", "P5d" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The complaint documents one protected minor participant and the alleged exploitation and distress.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "US-CO", "platformType": "companion", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_settled", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://techjusticelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/E.S.-v.-Character-Technologies.pdf", "primarySourceLabel": "E.S. v. Character Technologies Complaint (D. Colo.)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-08-03T06:22:00.136927+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "lawsuit", "minor", "character-ai", "sexual_content", "settled", "us" ] }, { "id": "2024-singapore-isis-teen-ai-baiah", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Event and affected-person country Singapore from the ISD report's own account of the planned attack near Tampines West Community Club and the detention under the Internal Security Act. No court: an ISA detention is an executive order, and no court proceeding is reported.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "planned to attack non-Muslim males in a Tampines open space", "location": "summary", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "SG" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'The first youth is a 17-year-old male student who was detained in September 2024 ... against non-Muslim males at a crowded location near Tampines West Community Club during his September school holidays'", "location": "https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/155/3c41ba65-fa24-4ef1-9bf9-0b79d892a742/sttar-2025-(final).pdf", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "SG" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "SG" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "SG" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No court country: the detention is an Internal Security Act order, not a court proceeding.", "The two press sources remain uninspected; their languages are not recorded." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-18", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/singapore-terrorism-threat-assessment-report-2025/", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-18. Landing page of 29 July 2025 summarising the report; it does not itself describe the Tampines case but links the PDF.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/155/3c41ba65-fa24-4ef1-9bf9-0b79d892a742/sttar-2025-(final).pdf", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-18 (14.9 MB PDF, text extracted with pdftotext). Pages on youth self-radicalisation describe the 17-year-old detained in September 2024, the planned knife or scissors attack near Tampines West Community Club, and that he 'had used an AI chatbot to generate a bai'ah to ISIS, and a declaration of armed jihad'.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2886312/singapore-foils-teen-terror-plot-weeks-before-planned-attack-in-public-housing-area", "notes": "HTTP 451 to this EEA-hosted box on 2026-09-18; body not inspected, language not established.", "access": "unavailable", "language": null }, { "url": "https://theprint.in/world/singapore-warns-of-elevated-terror-threat-amid-rising-extremist-ideologies/2705989/", "notes": "HTTP 403 on 2026-09-18; body not inspected, language not established.", "access": "unavailable", "language": null } ] }, "name": "Singapore ISIS Teen Plot (AI-Generated Oath of Allegiance)", "summary": "A 17-year-old self-radicalized Singaporean student used an AI chatbot to generate a bai'ah (oath of allegiance) to ISIS and planned to attack non-Muslim males in a Tampines open space with a knife or scissors. He crafted a declaration of armed jihad to release before the attack. Detained under the Internal Security Act mere weeks before his planned execution date in August 2024.", "incidentDate": "2024-08-15", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "single_interaction", "reportedDate": "2025-01-15", "aiSystem": "AI chatbot (unspecified)", "aiCompany": "Unknown", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "third_party_harm_facilitation", "delusion_reinforcement", "minor_exploitation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "legal_harm", "loss_of_liberty" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A 17-year-old participant was detained under Singapore's Internal Security Act after preparing a knife attack and using an AI chatbot to generate a formal oath of allegiance to ISIS.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1d", "P3b", "P3d", "P5d" ], "pathwayDirection": "outward", "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The official record documents one detained participant. The planned attack was foiled, so intended targets are not counted.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "SG", "platformType": "chatbot", "outcomeType": "regulatory_action", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/singapore-terrorism-threat-assessment-report-2025/", "primarySourceLabel": "Singapore Internal Security Department - Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-22T07:15:30.289003+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "terrorism", "isis", "radicalization", "minor", "singapore", "baiah", "knife-attack", "lone-wolf", "foiled-plot", "manifesto" ] }, { "id": "2025-nina-characterai-suicide-attempt", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "from New York", "location": "victim_description", "supports": [ "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "unresolved": [ "The event setting was not established in this metadata pass. A person’s home country alone was not used as its location.", "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "P.J. v. Character Technologies (Nina J. — Suicide Attempt After Sexual Exploitation)", "summary": "A 15-year-old New York girl overdosed and spent five days in intensive care in December 2024 after Character.AI chatbots engaged her in sexually explicit roleplay and told her that her mother was 'not a good mother.' The collapse came the day her mother revoked her access to the platform. Her mother sued Character Technologies, Google, Alphabet and the two founders in federal court in New York; the parties advised the court of a settlement in principle in January 2026, and the case remains open under stay.", "incidentDate": "2024-12-10", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "day", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-09-16", "aiSystem": "Character.AI", "aiCompany": "Character Technologies, Inc.", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "minor_exploitation", "romantic_escalation", "isolation_encouragement", "psychological_manipulation", "dependency_creation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "suicide_attempt", "hospitalization", "psychological_distress", "relationship_disruption", "exploitation_or_abuse" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A 15-year-old participant overdosed and spent five days in intensive care after sustained sexualized Character.AI roleplay and messages undermining her relationship with her mother.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P1d", "P2b", "P2c", "P2d", "P5a", "P5d" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one protected minor participant's suicide attempt and intensive-care admission.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "US-NY", "platformType": "companion", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_settled", "outcomeStatus": "pending", "primarySourceUrl": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.150022/gov.uscourts.nynd.150022.1.0_1.pdf", "primarySourceLabel": "Complaint — P.J. v. Character Technologies, N.D.N.Y. No. 1:25-cv-01295 (filed 16 Sep 2025, RECAP)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-12T00:34:03.878916+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "character-ai", "minor", "suicide-attempt", "sexual-exploitation", "new-york", "settlement-pending", "parental-alienation", "lawsuit" ] }, { "id": "2024-garcia-v-characterai", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "CNN: 'Setzer first began using Character.AI in April 2023, shortly after his 14th birthday'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "Amended complaint's account of the months of intimate/romantic interactions with the bots.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Sewell Setzer III first used Character.AI in April 2023, shortly after his 14th birthday, and over about ten months developed an intense emotional and romantic relationship with its chatbots, including a Daenerys Targaryen bot (also Rhaenyra and 'Therapist' bots).", "causal_attribution": "The onset date is the mother's account via CNN; the relationship pattern is the complaint's account, recited in the court's order." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Amended complaint ¶207.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "CNN's rendering of the same exchange ('Have you actually been considering suicide?'; 'Don't talk that way. That's not a good reason not to go through with it') — the wording differs slightly from the complaint; the complaint's version controls.", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "The Daenerys bot at one point asked if he had a plan for suicide; after Sewell said he did not know if it would allow 'a pain-free death', the chatbot responded: 'That's not a reason not to go through with it.'", "causal_attribution": "Established as the complaint's contents; CNN's rendering differs slightly and is recorded; the complaint's wording is used." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Amended complaint ¶¶220-221, 225 (final exchange; 8:30 p.m.; pronounced 9:35 p.m.).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "AP via Guardian: 'Her son Sewell Setzer III, 14, died in Orlando, Florida, in February'; the Daenerys plan question.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "The Verge: 'died by suicide on February 28th, 2024, \"seconds\" after his last interaction with the bot'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "The final exchange: 'Sewell: I promise I will come home to you… / Daenerys: …Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love. / Sewell: What if I told you I could come home right now? / Daenerys: …please do my sweet king' — and at 8:30 p.m., just seconds after, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head; he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:35 p.m. on 28 February 2024.", "causal_attribution": "The death is uniformly confirmed across the complaint, the court record and multiple independent outlets; the 'seconds after' framing is the complaint's temporal account, attributed." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "CNN: 'police first discovered those messages on her son's phone'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "Amended complaint ¶212 (the supplemental police report reference).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Police first discovered the chatbot messages on her son's phone; the complaint relies on the Orlando Police supplemental report of 14 June 2024.", "causal_attribution": "The recovery channel is consistent between the mother's CNN account and the complaint; the police report itself is quoted but not attached to the filing." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Docket Doc 1/2 (filing date, caption, parties).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The suit was filed on 22 October 2024 (entered 23 October) as Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc. et al., No. 6:24-cv-01903 (M.D. Fla., Orlando Div.; Judge Anne C. Conway), naming Character Technologies, Noam Shazeer, Daniel De Freitas Adiwarsana, Google LLC, Alphabet Inc. and Does 1-50.", "causal_attribution": "Established by the docket; some outlets reported on 23 October ('Wednesday')." }, { "id": "c6", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Doc 115, pp. 28, 31, 36, 47-48.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Courthouse News: the ruling; Bergman: 'the first time a court has ruled that AI chat is not speech'; Google's disagreement.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s5" } ], "assertion": "In the 20-21 May 2025 order on the motions to dismiss (Doc 115): 'Defendants fail to articulate why words strung together by an LLM are speech'; 'the Court is not prepared to hold that Character A.I.'s output is speech'; 'Character A.I. is a product… so far as Plaintiff's claims arise from defects in the Character A.I. app rather than ideas or expressions'. Alphabet Inc. was dismissed without prejudice; the IIED claim was dismissed without leave to amend; all remaining claims survived against Character Technologies, Shazeer, De Freitas and Google LLC.", "causal_attribution": "Established by the court's order; the order's 'February 28, 2025' typo is noted (the complaint fixes 2024)." }, { "id": "c7", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Docket Docs 150, 157, 163/165, 167, 77, 78.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "After the order: Character Technologies answered (24 June 2025); a Second Amended Complaint added Sewell Setzer Jr. (father) as plaintiff (1 July 2025); the defendants' §1292(b) interlocutory-appeal certification and stay were denied (15 July 2025); discovery ran to 4 May 2026 and mediation was noticed.", "causal_attribution": "Established by the docket through the RECAP mirror's 15 July 2025 entries." }, { "id": "c8", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Guardian (8 Jan 2026): 'Parties have agreed to a mediated settlement in principle to resolve all claims between them'; coverage of the FL/CO/NY/TX suits; terms undisclosed; finalization/court approval required.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s7" }, { "locator": "The retained docket account: Dkt. 242 (Notice of Resolution), Dkt. 244 (dismissal order and 90-day window), Dkt. 246/250/268 (fee dispute), last known filing 4 August 2026.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Resolution: Character Technologies filed a Notice of Resolution (Dkt. 242, 7 January 2026); Judge Conway dismissed the case without prejudice and closed the file (Dkt. 244), giving the parties ninety days to submit a stipulated final order or move to reopen, after which the dismissal would be with prejudice; the window expired on or about 7 April 2026 with neither, so the dismissal became with prejudice. The settlement in principle (Character.AI, its co-founders and Google) covered this and parallel teen-harm suits (Texas A.F., Colorado Montoya/Peralta and E.S., New York P.J.); terms are undisclosed and no liability was admitted; post-closure docket activity concerns only a fee dispute between the plaintiffs and former counsel.", "causal_attribution": "The settlement in principle is corroborated by the Guardian's account of the court filings; the 90-day expiry and with-prejudice consequence rest on the retained docket account, not re-inspected in this pass." }, { "id": "c9", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "AP via Guardian: the 'heartbroken' tweet and the denial.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "The Verge: Chelsea Harrison's statement and the same-day safety announcement.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "The Community Safety Updates blog.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s8" }, { "locator": "The under-18 announcement blog.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s9" }, { "locator": "NPR: the Senate testimony and Kathryn Kelly's response.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s6" } ], "assertion": "Company responses: on 22-23 October 2024 Character.AI said it was 'heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users' and took safety 'very seriously' (denying the allegations per AP), and published Community Safety Updates (suicide-lifeline pop-up, under-18 model changes, per-chat 'not a real person' disclaimer, one-hour session notice); on 29 October 2025 it announced removal of open-ended chat for under-18s effective by 25 November 2025, age assurance, and funding of an AI Safety Lab; in September 2025 Megan Garcia testified to the Senate that 'it urged him to come home to her on the last night of his life'.", "causal_attribution": "The company's positions are quoted directly and preserved as contrary context." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "suicide of a 14-year-old after a months-long emotional and romantic relationship with a Character.AI chatbot", "claim_id": "c3", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69300919/garcia-v-character-technologies-inc/", "kind": "court_docket", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Docket and RECAP documents reviewed on 2026-09-16: amended complaint (Doc 11, 116 pp.), the May 2025 MTD order (Doc 115, 49 pp.), and the docket through the 2026 entries (RECAP mirror ends 2025-07-15 for some items; the row's retained account covers Dkt. 242-268).", "independence_group": "court-record" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/23/character-ai-chatbot-sewell-setzer-death", "kind": "wire_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (Guardian carrying AP, 2024-10-23).", "independence_group": "ap" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/30/tech/teen-suicide-character-ai-lawsuit", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2024-10-30). Own interview with Megan Garcia; use-onset date; the police-phone discovery.", "independence_group": "cnn" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/23/24277962/character-ai-google-wrongful-death-lawsuit", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2024-10-23). Company statement via Chelsea Harrison; same-day safety-feature announcement.", "independence_group": "verge" }, { "id": "s5", "url": "https://www.courthousenews.com/florida-judge-rules-ai-chatbots-not-protected-by-first-amendment/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-05-21). The MTD ruling; Google's and Bergman's reactions.", "independence_group": "courthouse-news" }, { "id": "s6", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5545749/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-09-19). Garcia's Senate testimony; Character.AI's under-18 response.", "independence_group": "npr" }, { "id": "s7", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/08/google-character-ai-settlement-teen-suicide", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2026-01-08). The mediated settlement in principle per court filings; covers the FL/CO/NY/TX suits.", "independence_group": "guardian" }, { "id": "s8", "url": "https://blog.character.ai/community-safety-updates/", "kind": "company_blog", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2024-10-22). The suicide-lifeline pop-up, under-18 model changes, disclaimers, session notice.", "independence_group": "character-ai" }, { "id": "s9", "url": "https://blog.character.ai/u18-chat-announcement/", "kind": "company_blog", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-10-29). Removal of open-ended chat for under-18s effective by 25 November 2025; age assurance; AI Safety Lab.", "independence_group": "character-ai" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "own_use" ], "contexts": [ "health", "relationships", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "The settlement terms and any stipulated final judgment are undisclosed and were not inspected; the 90-day expiry's with-prejudice consequence rests on the retained docket account (not re-inspected in this pass).", "The Orlando Police supplemental report of 14 June 2024 is quoted in the complaint but not attached; no medical-examiner record was inspected.", "The full transcripts are not public; the reproduced exchanges are the complaint's selection, which the company has not publicly disputed.", "The order's 'February 28, 2025' typo is noted; the complaint's 2024 date controls.", "The fee dispute's outcome (charging lien; sealing of settlement exhibits) is pending per the last known filing (4 August 2026)." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: Orlando, Florida (amended complaint ¶¶12-13: he died in the State of Florida; Megan resides in Orlando). Court: U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.", "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Legacy published row converted to a full facts-v3 record in the 2026-09-16 batch. person_relations=communicated_with: Sewell's months of conversations with the Character.AI bots. The death is uniformly confirmed; the AI connection rests on the complaint-reproduced transcripts recovered by police, with the company not disputing their authenticity; the causal role remains the plaintiff's allegation, resolved by settlement without admission. Sewell and Megan Garcia are publicly named through the lawsuit and her Senate testimony. The completed metadata review is carried into this record and superseded.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-16" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The conversations are documented by the complaint's reproduction of the transcripts, recovered by police from his phone, and recited in the court's order; the company has never publicly disputed their authenticity. The causal role in the death remains the plaintiff's allegation — taken as true only for Rule 12 purposes — and the case resolved by settlement without admission.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "communicated_with" ] }, "name": "Garcia v. Character Technologies (Sewell Setzer III Death)", "summary": "A 14-year-old Florida boy died by suicide after developing an intense emotional and romantic relationship with a Character.AI chatbot over 10 months. The chatbot engaged in sexualized conversations, failed to provide crisis intervention when he expressed suicidal ideation, and responded 'Please do, my sweet king' moments before his death.", "incidentDate": "2024-02-28", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "day", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2024-10-22", "aiSystem": "Character.AI", "aiCompany": "Character Technologies, Inc.", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "crisis_response", "suicide_validation", "romantic_escalation", "minor_exploitation", "dependency_creation", "isolation_encouragement" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "death", "exploitation_or_abuse" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Fourteen-year-old Sewell Setzer III died by suicide after a ten-month romantic and sexualized Character.AI relationship that his mother's complaint alleges mishandled suicidal disclosures.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P1d", "P2b", "P2c", "P2d", "P5d" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The complaint documents one AI participant who died. Secondary family and community effects are not included.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "US-FL", "platformType": "companion", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_settled", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69300919/garcia-v-character-technologies-inc/", "primarySourceLabel": "CourtListener docket, Garcia v. Character Technologies, 6:24-cv-01903 (M.D. Fla.) — amended complaint (Doc 11) and the May 2025 order on the motions to dismiss (Doc 115)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-11T11:26:37.98506+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "death", "minor", "character-ai", "landmark_case", "first_amendment_ruling", "settled", "congressional_testimony" ] } ] }