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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Technology

US mother says in lawsuit that AI chatbot encouraged son’s suicide

Lawsuit Suicide Megan Garcia Sewell Setzer United States Character Google Florida
Sewell Setzer and his mother, Megan Garcia [PR Newswire]

The mother of a teenage boy in the United States who took his own life is suing the maker of an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that she claims encouraged her son’s death.

In a lawsuit filed in Florida, Megan Garcia, whose 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer died by suicide in February, accuses Character.AI of complicity in her son’s death after he developed a virtual relationship with a chatbot based on the identity of “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen.

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