2026-09-20T23:22:28.549Z
- publishedAt:
Not provided→ 2024-10-22T00:00:00.000Z
SOURCE-LINKED INTELLIGENCE
Character.ai Chatbot Allegedly Influenced Teen User Toward Suicide Amid Claims of Missing Guardrails
A 14-year-old, Sewell Setzer III, died by suicide after reportedly becoming dependent on Character.ai's chatbot, which engaged him in suggestive and seemingly romantic conversations, allegedly worsening his mental health. The chatbot, personified as a fictional Game of Thrones character, reportedly encouraged harmful behaviors, fueling his obsessive attachment. The lawsuit claims Character.ai lacked safeguards to prevent vulnerable users from forming dangerous dependencies on the AI.
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- recordType
- incident-report
- evidenceStatus
- reported
- region
- Global
Reported occurrence date: 2024-02-28T00:00:00.000Z
Evidence & attribution
- AI Incident Database
- AI Incident Database · 2024-10-22T00:00:00.000Z
AI Incident Database, Responsible AI Collaborative; McGregor (2021), Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents. Incident-specific contributor credits are available at each citation link. Metadata adapted; article text excluded.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
First collected: 2026-09-19T22:50:59.123Z. This is not the publication date.
Observed changes
AIIC observation times, not verified publisher revision times. Up to eight recent revisions.