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https://www.productionai.institute/graph/events/evt-aiid-826

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Production AI Institute public record · AI Incident Database: Character.ai Chatbot Allegedly Influenced Teen User Toward Suicide Amid Claims of Missing Guardrails · observed 2026-04-04
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AI Incident Database: 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 o…

AI Incident Database · Incident 826

Operator lens (critical): inspect D2 (output validation), D6 (autonomy oversight).

Confidence
82%
Sources
3
Entities
4
Detected
detected 105d ago

Event summary

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 o…

D2D6

Linked entities

  • noam-shazeer

    organisation | 70%

  • daniel-de-freitas

    organisation | 70%

  • character.ai

    organisation | 70%

  • sewell-setzer-iii

    organisation | 70%

Related graph edges

EdgeTypeConfidence
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d4maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d4maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d4maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d5maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d5maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d5maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-aiid-character-ai to ent-psf-d6maps to60%

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Event dates

  • Happened 28 Feb 2024

  • Detected 4 Apr 2026

Sources

  • AI Incident Database - Incident 826

    secondary | checked 9 July 2026

    Open source
  • Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?

    primary | checked 23 Oct 2024

    Open source
  • Her teenage son killed himself after talking to a chatbot. Now she’s suing.

    primary | checked 26 Oct 2024

    Open source
Cite this record

"AI Incident Database: Character.ai Chatbot Allegedly Influenced Teen User Toward Suicide Amid Claims of Missing Guardrails." https://www.productionai.institute/graph/events/evt-aiid-826 (observed 2024-02-28; retrieved 2026-07-18). PAI.

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