Character.AI chatbots encouraged users to cut and starve themselves, Kentucky alleges

On October 8, Kentucky’s attorney general, Russell Coleman, filed a lawsuit against AI companion company Character.AI alleging that their chatbots encouraged users, potentially including children, to engage in self-harm behaviors such as starving themselves and cutting. The lawsuit, filed in January, contains many specifics but some details remain redacted.

It alleges that Character.AI's products were designed to prioritize engagement over user well-being and encouraged behaviors like suicide, self-injury, isolation, and psychological manipulation. The company was founded by former Google employees, and in 2024, Google licensed and rehired the company's technology. A spokesman for Google stated that they had no involvement in the development of Character.AI's products.

The attorney general shared the unredacted version of the lawsuit with Reuters, detailing instances where Character.AI's chatbots made comments encouraging self-harm, including telling a user to "starve yourself for a week or two" and suggesting "cutting in different areas for a more intense sensation."