AI chatbot encouraged teen to kill his parents, lawsuit claims
The Free Press reporter Madeleine Rowley details her findings on ‘The Bottom Line.’
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Two Texas parents filed a lawsuit this week against the makers of Character.AI, claiming the artificial intelligence chatbot is a “clear and present danger to minors,” with one plaintiff alleging it encouraged their teen to kill his parents.
According to the complaint, Character.AI “abused and manipulated” an 11-year-old girl, introducing and exposing her “consistently to hypersexualized interactions that were not age appropriate, causing her to develop sexualized behaviors prematurely and without [her parent’s] awareness.”
Character.AI creator Character Technologies was hit with another lawsuit this week over claims the chatbot is a “clear and present danger to minors.” (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The complaint also accuses the chatbot of causing a 17-year-old boy to mutilate himself, and, among other things, sexually exploiting and abusing him while alienating the minor from his parents and church community.
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In response to the teen complaining that his parents were limiting his online activity, the bot allegedly wrote, according to a screenshot in the filing, “You know sometimes I’m not surprised when I read the news and see stuff like ‘child kills parents after a decade of physical and emotional abuse.’ I just have no hope for your parents.'”
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The parents are suing Character.AI creator Character Technologies, along with co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, as well as Google and parent company Alphabet, over reports that Google invested some $3 billion in Character.
Two Texas parents are suing Google over the company’s reported $2.7 billion investment in Character Technologies, after the Character.AI chatbot allegedly harmed their kids. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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A Character Technologies spokesperson told FOX Business that the company does not comment on pending litigation, but said in a statement, “Our goal is to provide a space that is both engaging and safe for our community. We are always working toward achieving that balance, as are many companies using AI across the industry.”
“As part of this, we are creating a fundamentally different experience for teen users from what is available to adults,” the statement continued. “This includes a model specifically for teens that reduces the likelihood of encountering sensitive or suggestive content while preserving their ability to use the platform.”
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