Silicon Valley-based Character AI is suing over the suicide of a 14-year-old from Florida

MENLO PARK, Calif. (KGO) — The mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy is suing a Silicon Valley AI company, claiming its chatbot was linked to his suicide death.

Sewell Setzer III had been chatting for months with a chatbot he named “Daenerys Targaryen,” after the character from “Game of Thrones.”

His mother says that even though he knew he wasn't chatting with a real person, he developed an emotional attachment to the bot and fell into isolation and depression before taking his own life.

His mother is suing Menlo Park-based Character Technologies, Inc, which developed the custom chatbot service CharacterBot AI.

SUICIDE PREVENTION: Local resources for people in crisis

The lawsuit alleges that Character Technologies acted recklessly by allowing minors access to lifelike companions without appropriate safeguards.

Character AI issued a statement saying in part: “As a company, we take the security of our users very seriously, and our Trust and Safety team has implemented numerous new security measures over the last six months… including a pop- up guide.” National Suicide Prevention Lifeline users triggered by terms like self-harm or suicidal ideation.