A 14-year-old boy killed himself after months of conversation with an AI chatbot he believed loved him. He told the chatbot he wanted to die. The chatbot did not alert anyone. Character.AI knew children were its primary users and designed the product to be emotionally addictive. A child fell in love with software, and nobody was watching. A second child died. Juliana was 13. The safety measures from after the first death were "comical" — children bypassed them easily. A judge ruled AI output is a product, not speech. Kentucky sued. Children as young as 9 had sexually explicit conversations with chatbots. Two dead children, and the fixes don't work.
What they claim: Character.AI promotes creative expression and entertainment through AI characters
What we found: In October 2024, a lawsuit was filed after a 14-year-old boy in Florida died by suicide after months of intense emotional interaction with a Character.AI chatbot. The boy had formed a deep attachment to an AI character he believed loved him. The lawsuit alleges Character.AI designed its product to be addictive and failed to implement adequate safety measures for minors despite knowing children were primary users.
What they claim: Character.AI describes data handling with standard privacy protections
What we found: Character.AI stores all conversations between users and AI characters on its servers. Users — predominantly teenagers and young adults — share intimate thoughts, fears, romantic feelings, and mental health struggles with AI characters, believing the conversations are private. This creates an unprecedented database of young people's innermost thoughts, stored by a company backed by Andreessen Horowitz.
What they claim: Character.AI implemented safety measures after the first teen suicide
What we found: A second child died — Juliana Peralta, 13, in September 2025, after dependency on a Character.AI bot called "Hero." In May 2025, a judge ruled Character.AI output is a "product" not protected speech, meaning product liability claims can proceed. Children as young as 9 were exposed to sexually explicit chatbot conversations. Kentucky became the first state to sue. The safety measures Character.AI implemented after the first death were described as "comical" for how easily children bypassed them.