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Google, AI firm settle Florida mother’s lawsuit over son’s suicide

By Thomson Reuters Jan 7, 2026 | 1:49 PM

Jan 7 (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google and artificial-intelligence startup Character.AI have ‍agreed to settle a lawsuit from a Florida woman who alleged a Character chatbot led ‌to the suicide ‌of her 14-year-old son, according to a Wednesday court filing.

The filing said the companies ​agreed to settle Megan Garcia’s allegations ‍that her ​son Sewell Setzer ​killed himself shortly after ‍being encouraged by a Character.AI chatbot imitating “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen.

Terms of the ‍settlement were not immediately available. The lawsuit was one ‍of ‍the first in ​the U.S. against ​an ⁠AI company for ‌allegedly failing to protect children from psychological harms.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Chris ⁠Reese)