Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
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google Character.AI plans to settle with a family that sued the company over harm to minors, including suicide, allegedly caused by its artificial intelligence chatbot.
According to court documents filed this week, the family and the company have agreed to terms of a settlement.
In one case, plaintiff Megan Garcia sued Google and Character.AI after her son died by suicide. The complaint alleges that Character.AI’s chatbot caused harmful interactions with the plaintiff’s 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, and alleges negligence, wrongful death, deceptive trade practices and product liability.
“The parties have agreed in principle to a mediated settlement to resolve all claims between the parties regarding the matters set forth above,” the filing states. “The parties request that this matter be discontinued so that a formal settlement document can be drafted, finalized, and executed.”
This week’s settlement agreement also came from families in Colorado, Texas and New York, documents said. Details have not yet been disclosed.
In August 2024, Google agreed to a $2.7 billion licensing deal and hired Character.AI founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas. Both men previously worked for search firms and were specifically named in the lawsuit. Shazeer and De Freitas have joined Google’s AI division, DeepMind.
OpenAI Introduces ChatGPT In the more than three years since the AI boom began, the technology has rapidly evolved from text-based chats to sophisticated images, videos, and characters that respond to simple human prompts. Companies in this sector currently face an increasing challenge in dealing with the potentially harmful effects of technology.
Families continue to file lawsuits related to suicides and deaths caused by people who used these products for companionship or therapeutic purposes. In October, Character.AI announced that users under the age of 18 would be prohibited from freely chatting using its AI chatbot, including romantic and soothing conversations.
A spokeswoman for the lawyers representing the families involved in this week’s settlement said the plaintiffs had no comment. Google could not be reached for comment, but Character.AI said it could not comment at this time.
Google’s AI advances helped the company become Wall Street’s top mega-cap performer in 2025. The company unveiled the latest version of its tensor processing unit chip in November and the Gemini 3 chatbot last month.
If you are having suicidal thoughts or are in distress, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988) for support and assistance from a trained counselor.
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