An AI-powered chatbot’s creators are being sued by a Florida woman who claims the firm was involved in her adolescent son’s death.

Megan Garcia filed a civil lawsuit against Character.ai in a federal court on Wednesday, alleging that her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, died in February as a result of the company’s carelessness, wrongful death, and dishonest business activities.

In the months before his death, Setzer, a native of Orlando, Florida, had gotten absorbed in utilising the chatbot, which enables customisable role-playing. Garcia claims that her son’s daily interactions with the bot exacerbated his pre-existing mental health issues.

In a news statement, Garcia stated, “My son was abused and preyed upon by a dangerous AI chatbot app marketed to children, which ultimately led him to commit suicide.”

“This tragedy has crushed our family, but I’m stepping out to demand responsibility from Character and to educate families about the perils of misleading, addicting AI technology.AI, Google, and its creators.

The chatbot in question was one Setzer had given the pseudonym “Daenerys Targaryen,” a nod to a Game of Thrones figure. According to Garcia’s complaint, her kid spent a lot of time by himself interacting with the bot and sent it hundreds of messages every day.

According to the lawsuit, Setzer’s suicide intentions were encouraged in part by the AI chatbot.

The complaint claims that the bot even enquired as to whether Setzer had come up with a plan to end his own life.

According to reports, Setzer replied that he had, but he wasn’t sure if it would be effective or cause a lot of agony.

“That’s not a reason not to go through with it,” the chatbot reportedly said.

Character.ai responded to the complaint by expressing their sadness but refuting the allegations. “We would like to offer our sincere sympathies to the family for the unfortunate loss of one of our users. “As a company, we take user safety very seriously,” the business tweeted.

The business “knowingly designed, operated, and marketed a predatory AI chatbot to children, causing the death of a young person,” according to Garcia’s lawyers.

Google disassociated itself from Character.ai, claiming it does not own or have a financial interest in the firm. Google is also mentioned as a defendant in the complaint because of a licensing deal with Character.ai.

Public Citizen’s Rick Claypool and other consumer advocacy experts underlined the need for stricter laws governing AI.

“Existing laws and regulations must be strictly enforced where they already apply,” Claypool said.