Google is facing a lawsuit over allegations that its AI-powered search tools contributed to a teenage girl's suicide attempt. The parents of a 13-year-old girl named Emma filed a complaint in a California court on Monday, November 2, accusing Google of negligence related to AI integrations on Chromebooks. The lawsuit claims that Emma, who had no history of mental illness, spiraled into a severe psychological crisis after using Google's AI-powered search on her school-issued laptop.
The complaint highlights that Emma was unable to access Google's Gemini app or OpenAI's ChatGPT due to school restrictions but could still use Google's search engine, which includes AI-powered features. The lawsuit argues that these features were not among the tools Google recently announced would be disabled by default for students. The girl's parents discovered her plans after school monitoring software flagged a document titled 'Funeral' on March 17.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated that the company is reviewing the claims and takes them seriously. The tech giant argues that its AI mode includes safeguards against self-harm, but the family's attorney, Andrew Liddell, contends that these safeguards were insufficient. 'Whatever safeguards they think they put in place were obviously insufficient,' Liddell said.
This lawsuit is part of a broader trend of legal actions against developers of fast-evolving AI technology. OpenAI, for example, faces several wrongful death suits, including one from the parents of a 16-year-old who allegedly used methods advised by ChatGPT to commit suicide. In January, Google and Character.AI settled several similar lawsuits out of court.