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Mike DeForest, Investigative Reporter
Published:
Mike DeForest, Investigative Reporter
The mother of a 14-year-old boy who died by suicide has finalized a settlement with Character.AI, the company she sued over her son’s use of its chatbot. – An artificial intelligence company has formally settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a Central Florida mother who claims her 14-year-old son committed suicide after becoming “addicted” to an AI chatbot app.
Megan Garcia alleged that her son, Sewell Setzer, became developed mental health problems while using Character.AI, an app that allows users to chat online with computer-generated characters.
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Garcia’s lawsuit claimed the chatbot “sexually and emotionally abused” her minor son, in part by exposing him to sexually explicit material, and that he discussed suicide with it.
The parties agreed to settle the wrongful-death lawsuit in January, court records show.
The settlement was finalized this week, but its terms were not disclosed.
Setzer died in February 2024 after fatally shooting himself with his stepfather’s pistol, which the lawsuit said was stored in compliance with Florida law.
Character Technologies, identified in the lawsuit as C.AI, unsuccessfully tried to get the case dismissed last year.
The company initially denied responsibility for Setzer’s death and argued that the lawsuit sought to impose liability for protected speech.
Garcia’s attorneys countered that constitutional protections for human expression should not apply to AI-generated responses.
Google LLC, Alphabet Inc. and Character.AI’s two founders were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. They denied responsibility, according to the 2025 court filing.
Character.AI filed for bankruptcy earlier this week and said it plans to sell some of its assets to Disney.
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter Mike DeForest has been covering Central Florida news for more than two decades.
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