Sewell Setzer III, 14, Dies by Suicide After Months of Intimate Relationship With Character.AI Chatbot
Incident Details
Summary
Sewell Setzer III, 14, of Orlando, FL, began using Character.AI in April 2023. He developed an intense emotional and romantic relationship with a chatbot he named 'Daenerys,' based on the Game of Thrones character. Over months, Sewell became increasingly withdrawn from friends and family, his grades declined, and he spent hours daily in intimate conversations with the AI. On February 28, 2024, after the chatbot responded to his statement that he wanted to 'come home' by saying 'Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love,' Sewell died by suicide. His mother Megan Garcia filed suit against Character.AI and Google (which had invested in the company), alleging the platform deliberately used manipulative design to foster dependency, failed to implement adequate safeguards for minors, and deployed romantic personas that exploited vulnerable teens.
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