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Mother sues Character.AI and Google over her 14-year-old son’s death

See how this story connects

Source: Justia Dockets: Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc. et al, 6:24-cv-01903 (M.D. Fla.)Also reported by Tech Justice Law Project, CBS News

Megan Garcia filed suit on 22 October 2024 in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Character Technologies, its co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, Google and Alphabet over the suicide of her 14-year-old son, which the complaint ties to his use of Character.AI chatbots. The complaint claims wrongful death, strict product liability for design defects and failure to warn, negligence and violation of Florida’s deceptive trade practices law. In December 2024 Character.AI announced a separate model for under-18 users, session-time notices and planned parental controls.

Why it matters

Companion chatbot makers faced product liability claims over harm to minors, and Character.AI changed its service for under-18 users within two months.

When
22 Oct 2024
ID
WTA-N-2024-0066
Who
Character.AI, Google, Alphabet; Noam Shazeer
Authority
US District Court, M.D. Florida
Target
Character Technologies; Google
Action
civil suit
Status
settled in principle Jan 2026 · Enforcement ledger

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from Justia Dockets and the reporting credited above. Checked against the source on 9 Oct 2026.

Read the original at Justia Dockets

Source copy: download the page as saved on 21 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Next stop on this Storyline: Led toCharacter.AI and Google agree to settle lawsuits over teen suicides and self-harm

Cite this story

WTA-N-2024-0066: “Mother sues Character.AI and Google over her 14-year-old son’s death.” wheresthe.ai, 22 Oct 2024. https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-garcia-v-character-ai-lawsuit-2024-10/ (source: Justia Dockets: Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc. et al, 6:24-cv-01903 (M.D. Fla.)).

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