Teen’s Suicide Turns Mother Against Google, AI Chatbot Startup

Megan Garcia says her son would still be alive today if it weren’t for a chatbot urging the 14-year-old to take his own life.

In a lawsuit with major implications for Silicon Valley, she is seeking to hold Google and the artificial intelligence firm Character Technologies Inc. responsible for his death. The case over the tragedy that unfolded a year ago in central Florida is an early test of who is legally to blame when kids’ interactions with generative AI take an unexpected turn.

Garcia’s allegations are laid out in a 116-page complaint filed last year in federal court in Orlando. She is ...